The Marathon Against Pandemics
Marathon # 215
Barefoot Marathon # 73
Date: April 20, 2020
My Time: 14:53:00
By Dr. Barefoot Sidy Diallo
I did an indoors marathon during the hardest lockdown in the French millennial history.
Venue: inside my home due to the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown in France.
The course: 25-meter (82 feet) long, including a staircase of 15 steps.
Number of out-and-backs: 844.
Number of staircase steps: 12,660, that’s more than twice the steps of the Great Wall Marathon (5,164 steps), which was one of my 48 marathons in 2013.
Total elevation: 2,279 meters (7,477 feet).
Total duration, including a break for a TV interview: 14:53:00
I had never spent so much time on a race. That’s, of course, because of the course very short length and the total numbers of steps. And I incredibly enjoyed doing it. I posted this video of the race.
As one of the thousands registered runners for the 2020 Boston Marathon and one of the billions of POWs of the COVID-19 Pandemic, it was a great honor to participate on Monday, April 20, in the symbolic Freedom Boston Marathon Against Pandemics. We need to keep running to stay fit, free and healthy, and to defeat the pandemics. And, as we know, the legendary Boston Marathon has embodied the quest for liberty and healthy lifestyle for 123 years.
I therefore invited fellow runners, our loved ones and other prisoners of war (POWs) of the COVID-19 to join me on Patriots’ Day. Each participant was free to do 5 km, 10 km, 15 km, 10 miles, a half marathon, a marathon or whatever distance that would work for her or him. Since in France, we could run only once a day, no more than for an hour and within 1 km (0.6 miles) from home, I had to do the marathon inside my apartment.
We are vulnerable to the COVID-19 Pandemic, because many of us are increasingly suffering from the crippling chronic diseases (overweight, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and other cardiovascular diseases, certain cancers, kidney failure, etc.). For instance, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the adult population keeps increasing for all countries since 1975, according to the statistics of the World Health Organization (WHO). In 2016, the prevalence was already 59.5% in France, 63.7% in the United Kingdom, 69.7% in the United States versus only 20.9% in Ethiopia or 26.6% in Guinea. And the more the patient suffers from these comorbidities before the attack of the new coronavirus, the less likely she or he will survive.
It’s therefore crucial that we fight and eliminate these chronic diseases through physical activity and healthy lifestyle to prevent them from facilitating the assaults of future coronaviruses. Moreover, while healthcare may be costly or inaccessible for the underprivileged, efficient prevention through long-distance running—preferably barefoot—is completely accessible and free for everyone, regardless of social status, melanin density or country of residence. It’s all about individual responsibility and motivation, and not about resources. Hence, it’s about time to act responsibly for our health and to stop shifting constantly the blame to governments, corporates, poverty or precariousness.
Our immune systems are ultimately our real defense in the current war against COVID-19 Pandemic. They produce the antibodies that fight the enemy. If the antibodies win the battle, the patient survives, with or without after-effects. If they lose, the person will pass away, regardless of age or what the Red Cross or the Red Crescent can do. That’s the hard truth about this pandemic. We need therefore to boost our immune systems by staying fit and healthy through physical activity (and by avoiding excessive or unhealthy consumption). And—I insist—long-distance running is the ideal, effective, enjoyable and free way to achieve that goal. Moreover, the current lockdowns and closed borders are confirming that it’s not only about fighting pandemics, but also about a fundamental battle for our freedoms.
Sadly, many keep relying on consumption to achieve happiness and on drugs or vaccines to protect them against the pandemics, instead of running to stay healthy and boost their immune systems. It’s fortunately never too late to understand that despite all the drugs we have, the chronic diseases silently kill yearly tens of millions of people, and they seriously increase the vulnerability to the COVID-19 and to the seasonal flu. And the latter, for which there are vaccines, still claims the lives of hundreds of thousands.
My book Running Barefoot for Human Survival is available on Amazon in paperback and e-book format (French edition: Courir pieds nus pour sauver les humains).
Barefoot Marathon # 73
Date: April 20, 2020
My Time: 14:53:00
By Dr. Barefoot Sidy Diallo
I did an indoors marathon during the hardest lockdown in the French millennial history.
Venue: inside my home due to the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown in France.
The course: 25-meter (82 feet) long, including a staircase of 15 steps.
Number of out-and-backs: 844.
Number of staircase steps: 12,660, that’s more than twice the steps of the Great Wall Marathon (5,164 steps), which was one of my 48 marathons in 2013.
Total elevation: 2,279 meters (7,477 feet).
Total duration, including a break for a TV interview: 14:53:00
I had never spent so much time on a race. That’s, of course, because of the course very short length and the total numbers of steps. And I incredibly enjoyed doing it. I posted this video of the race.
As one of the thousands registered runners for the 2020 Boston Marathon and one of the billions of POWs of the COVID-19 Pandemic, it was a great honor to participate on Monday, April 20, in the symbolic Freedom Boston Marathon Against Pandemics. We need to keep running to stay fit, free and healthy, and to defeat the pandemics. And, as we know, the legendary Boston Marathon has embodied the quest for liberty and healthy lifestyle for 123 years.
I therefore invited fellow runners, our loved ones and other prisoners of war (POWs) of the COVID-19 to join me on Patriots’ Day. Each participant was free to do 5 km, 10 km, 15 km, 10 miles, a half marathon, a marathon or whatever distance that would work for her or him. Since in France, we could run only once a day, no more than for an hour and within 1 km (0.6 miles) from home, I had to do the marathon inside my apartment.
We are vulnerable to the COVID-19 Pandemic, because many of us are increasingly suffering from the crippling chronic diseases (overweight, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and other cardiovascular diseases, certain cancers, kidney failure, etc.). For instance, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the adult population keeps increasing for all countries since 1975, according to the statistics of the World Health Organization (WHO). In 2016, the prevalence was already 59.5% in France, 63.7% in the United Kingdom, 69.7% in the United States versus only 20.9% in Ethiopia or 26.6% in Guinea. And the more the patient suffers from these comorbidities before the attack of the new coronavirus, the less likely she or he will survive.
It’s therefore crucial that we fight and eliminate these chronic diseases through physical activity and healthy lifestyle to prevent them from facilitating the assaults of future coronaviruses. Moreover, while healthcare may be costly or inaccessible for the underprivileged, efficient prevention through long-distance running—preferably barefoot—is completely accessible and free for everyone, regardless of social status, melanin density or country of residence. It’s all about individual responsibility and motivation, and not about resources. Hence, it’s about time to act responsibly for our health and to stop shifting constantly the blame to governments, corporates, poverty or precariousness.
Our immune systems are ultimately our real defense in the current war against COVID-19 Pandemic. They produce the antibodies that fight the enemy. If the antibodies win the battle, the patient survives, with or without after-effects. If they lose, the person will pass away, regardless of age or what the Red Cross or the Red Crescent can do. That’s the hard truth about this pandemic. We need therefore to boost our immune systems by staying fit and healthy through physical activity (and by avoiding excessive or unhealthy consumption). And—I insist—long-distance running is the ideal, effective, enjoyable and free way to achieve that goal. Moreover, the current lockdowns and closed borders are confirming that it’s not only about fighting pandemics, but also about a fundamental battle for our freedoms.
Sadly, many keep relying on consumption to achieve happiness and on drugs or vaccines to protect them against the pandemics, instead of running to stay healthy and boost their immune systems. It’s fortunately never too late to understand that despite all the drugs we have, the chronic diseases silently kill yearly tens of millions of people, and they seriously increase the vulnerability to the COVID-19 and to the seasonal flu. And the latter, for which there are vaccines, still claims the lives of hundreds of thousands.
My book Running Barefoot for Human Survival is available on Amazon in paperback and e-book format (French edition: Courir pieds nus pour sauver les humains).
TV78 : Sidy Diallo court le marathon de Boston dans son salon
Dashboard of Dr. Sidy Diallo indoors marathon
Dr. Sidy Diallo indoors marathon included 12,660 steps, more than twice the steps of the Great Wall Marathon
Media announcement of Dr. Sidy Diallo indoors marathon