Nuh uhhh…..
Ski boots suck. They are high on the list of world’s most painful footwear. Nobody’s ever crawled their way off the mountain at the end of a long, glorious powder day, and said, “I would like to wear those for at least six more hours, please.” And there is certainly nobody on Earth who’s ever declared, “That sounds awesome,” when finding out they were going to run a marathon in hard, plastic shells.
“I do not want that,” was Mike Humphreys’ reaction to the possibility of running a marathon in ski boots as part of his 30 marathons in 30 days, in 30 different countries challenge. Which he finished.
Humphreys, who hails from East Yorkshire, England, has been raising awareness and raising money to support his friend Craig, who’s been diagnosed with motor neuron disease (MND). MND is a degenerative disorder that progressively damages parts of the nervous system. It leads to a “wasting away” of muscle, with everything from walking to swallowing getting more and more difficult as time goes on. Humphreys lost one friend to MND and admits it was “truly agonizing” to watch. When Craig was diagnosed, he set out to help his family by raising £30K ($40,000 USD). Half of that money would go to Craig and his family and half will be sent to an MND-associated charity. After running the marathon, that goal is already in the rearview with almost 900 donations.
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Humphreys called the marathon in ski boots the toughest thing he’s ever done. But he did it. The final tally was a runtime of six hours, 33 minutes, and 19 seconds — an average pace of 14 minutes and 45 seconds per mile. Humphreys has completed some truly whacky feats on his fundraising campaign. He climbed the highest mountain in England (Scafell Pike in the Lake District of Cumbria) wearing only a speedo and flip-flops. He also cycled from England to a ski resort in France, Val Thorens, the highest resort in the Alps.
The real toll, though, as anybody knows after a day in ski boots, is the number those boots must’ve done on Mike’s feet. A video of Humphreys taking his boots off after the race showed him scared to even take his socks off and survey the damage. Even without taking a look or showing the wounds on camera, he confirmed losing toe nails and, of course, probably collecting too many blisters to count.
