Quebec-based runner posts 1:36 barefoot half marathon to set world record
Karim El Hayani ran on Lake Beauport near Quebec City and broke the previous barefoot half-marathon record by eight minutes
Photo by:
Instagram/karim_elhayani
Spring may be on its way, but it still feels like winter in much of the country. Instead of wishing for warmer days, Quebec resident Karim El Hayani embraced the cold and recently set a world record for the fastest barefoot half-marathon on snow or ice. El Hayani, who is originally from Spain, ran just north of Quebec City on and around Lake Beauport, completing the 21.1K run in 1:36:45 to break the previous record by eight minutes.
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A new record
Before 2021, the world record for the fastest barefoot half-marathon on snow or ice belonged to Dutch athlete Wim Hof, who posted a time of 2:16:34 in Finland back in 2007. Hof’s record went untouched for more than a decade, but earlier this year, a new barefoot runner finally beat his time. The runner to dethrone Hof was Jonas Felde Sevaldrud, a Norwegian YouTuber who only recently got into running without shoes.
It took a couple of tries, but Sevaldrud eventually ran a shoeless half-marathon in 1:44:58 to smash Hof’s record. He was the first person to break two hours in the barefoot snow or ice half-marathon, but he wasn’t the last, and El Hayani has now lowered the record once more.
RELATED: Norwegian runner sets world record for fastest barefoot half-marathon on snow
According to Distances+, El Hayani ran laps of a 1,300m loop at Lake Beauport. The conditions were apparently not ideal for the run, as the weather was fine, but the quality of the snow was worse than El Hayani had anticipated. He told Distances+ that in the days leading up to his run, the course looked good, but a deepfreeze and subsequent rain just before made the once-soft snow icy and hard.
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Because of this, El Hayani actually ran on the lake’s ice instead of the snow, and he said he had get used to running on such a slippery surface before he started his attempt. Despite these issues, El Hayani went ahead with his attempt, and he still managed to crush the world record. His run has yet to be ratified by Guinness, but Sevaldrud’s hadn’t even reached that point yet, so El Hayani may have to wait a while until his record becomes official.
RELATED: British Adventurer Anna McNuff: Inspiring thousands by running 100 barefoot marathons
A seasoned barefoot runner
Unlike Sevaldrud, El Hayani has plenty of experience with barefoot running. He has run countless kilometres without shoes, and he even set a record in 2016 when he ran 100K barefoot. He runs barefoot everywhere, whether that’s on snow and ice, rocky trails or roads. Sevaldrud, on the other hand, ran just a couple of test runs barefoot, and when he upped his distance to 21.1K, his feet got torn apart (which is why he had to quit early in his first attempt).
Sevaldrud may have broken the world record, but El Hayani was undoubtedly more prepared for a run of this nature, which he proved on Lake Beauport as he raced to his new world record.
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