Running is your best medicine, and your feet are your best shoes.
In other words, barefoot running is the smart way to achieve a healthy mind in a healthy body: Mens sana in corpore sano. By the way, rationally speaking, this means for instance that running marathons to keep one’s body mass index (BMI) on the lower side of the recommended range (18.5 kg/m2 to 24.9 kg/m2), is much more useful and relevant than any race medal, record or ranking.
The book: Running Barefoot for Human Survival
Le livre : Courir pieds nus pour sauver les humains
Global Warming Means More Marathon Cancellations Ahead
If we keep indulging in overconsumption, extreme weather induced by the increasing temperatures will force more and more marathon organizers to call off their events. And don’t look for someone else to blame, since we, the consumers, are the global warmers. And if you think for instance that planting a tree can compensate your greenhouse gas emissions, think again before it’s too late to stop the spiral of global warming. Extreme heat or drought, or fires will likely kill your tree, long before it can absorb even a tiny portion of your emissions. Therefore, the rationale should be: “If I feel the guilt, I don’t emit, unless I absolutely have to.”
My first marathon for 2020 was postponed for a natural cause: the demise of the Sultan of Oman, and I ended up running a lonely marathon in Muscat. My second marathon was held in Miami two weeks after its normal date because of the Super Bowl, but at least I could do the race. Then I got the information that my third marathon—the Tokyo Marathon—is canceled, courtesy of novel coronavirus COVID-19.
However, the biggest threats for marathons around the world aren’t natural deaths, logistical issues, nor any virus, unless it can cause a plague like the 1918 influenza pandemic, also called Spanish flu, which infected hundreds of millions of people, and decimated between 17 million and 100 million. By comparison, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), the constantly mutating seasonal influenza virus kills yearly up to 650,000 humans, but, as far as I know, it hasn’t triggered any marathon cancellation.
The major and real threat is the impact of global warming. This means that, if we keep warming the planet, we should brace for more marathon cancellations because of heat waves, floods, bush fires, winter or tropical storms, hurricanes, etc. I got a taste in 2012 when two of my scheduled marathons were canceled: the Madison Marathon because of the heat in June, and the New York Marathon in the aftermath of the Storm Sandy. We also had to run the 2012 Boston Marathon in exceptionally high temperatures.
On December 8 of the following year, I ran the 2013 Honolulu Marathon in the expected hot and humid climate of the normal human habitat, while two other marathons scheduled on the same weekend in Continental U.S.—the Memphis Marathon and the Dallas Marathon—were canceled because of a winter storm that blanketed much of southern U.S. Safety concerns related to the cold, icy weather were something unusual at such relatively low latitudes (between just 32° N and 35 °N), but we should make no mistake: the worst is still to come. See the screenshots of media reports.
My plan for the rest of the first 6 months of 2020 was to run weekly a barefoot marathon, starting on March 1st by the Tokyo Marathon, and finishing on June 14 by the Kuala Lumpur Marathon. We’ll see what happens next, including the possible impact of the coronavirus on other races. But for now I need to find on short notice a substitute marathon for March 1st.
My first marathon for 2020 was postponed for a natural cause: the demise of the Sultan of Oman, and I ended up running a lonely marathon in Muscat. My second marathon was held in Miami two weeks after its normal date because of the Super Bowl, but at least I could do the race. Then I got the information that my third marathon—the Tokyo Marathon—is canceled, courtesy of novel coronavirus COVID-19.
However, the biggest threats for marathons around the world aren’t natural deaths, logistical issues, nor any virus, unless it can cause a plague like the 1918 influenza pandemic, also called Spanish flu, which infected hundreds of millions of people, and decimated between 17 million and 100 million. By comparison, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), the constantly mutating seasonal influenza virus kills yearly up to 650,000 humans, but, as far as I know, it hasn’t triggered any marathon cancellation.
The major and real threat is the impact of global warming. This means that, if we keep warming the planet, we should brace for more marathon cancellations because of heat waves, floods, bush fires, winter or tropical storms, hurricanes, etc. I got a taste in 2012 when two of my scheduled marathons were canceled: the Madison Marathon because of the heat in June, and the New York Marathon in the aftermath of the Storm Sandy. We also had to run the 2012 Boston Marathon in exceptionally high temperatures.
On December 8 of the following year, I ran the 2013 Honolulu Marathon in the expected hot and humid climate of the normal human habitat, while two other marathons scheduled on the same weekend in Continental U.S.—the Memphis Marathon and the Dallas Marathon—were canceled because of a winter storm that blanketed much of southern U.S. Safety concerns related to the cold, icy weather were something unusual at such relatively low latitudes (between just 32° N and 35 °N), but we should make no mistake: the worst is still to come. See the screenshots of media reports.
My plan for the rest of the first 6 months of 2020 was to run weekly a barefoot marathon, starting on March 1st by the Tokyo Marathon, and finishing on June 14 by the Kuala Lumpur Marathon. We’ll see what happens next, including the possible impact of the coronavirus on other races. But for now I need to find on short notice a substitute marathon for March 1st.