Those boots are probably gonna leave a mark. A couple of ’em. Photo: @Kingofthehillrace
Just this past April, a man by the name of Mike Humphreys ran the most painful marathon ever, trekking 26.2 miles through Paris in a pair of Tecnica ski boots for six hours, 33 minutes, and 19 seconds. I didn’t run that marathon in ski boots but I will confidently declare that the experience sucked. My words, not Mike’s.
Still, I’m not so sure that the journey Matthew Brinkley and Reuben Gray of the UK will soon embark on isn’t somehow worse. They’re about to walk from London to the resort town of Val Thorens, France, which is between 750 and 800 miles. And they’re going to be wearing ski boots every step of the way.
I’ll say it. This also sucks.
At least in Humphreys’ case, the marathon was over after six hours. He ran another half-marathon this past week but this time it was on sand, sans Tecnicas. Brinkley and Gray, however, are going to be in their ski boots for close to two months (with skis strapped into their packs, for good measure).
The pair is taking on the challenge as a promotion for their new King of the Hill Race app. The app is a social media site specifically for skiers and snowboarders (and mountain bikers), where users can do friendly competitions against one another, and the greater community, and do all the things social media apps allow one to do (like share pics and video, sort of like Instagram meets Strava).
The pair will also be raising money for two charities along the way. One is a non-profit organization called Snow Camp, which uses snowsports as an outreach to underserved youths in the UK. Their programs offer mentorship, they introduce youths to snowsports, and even address mental health support.
The other charity is Macmillan Cancer Support, which addresses a wide range of support efforts for those impacted by cancer, from financial assistance to emotional and physical support, as well as providing healthcare professionals with training resources and other tools that apply in their care for people with cancer.
“The idea came to us while in our local pub thinking of the craziest things we could possibly do to raise awareness. Since then we have run around London in ski boots, competed in an ultra marathon event in ski boots and, all in all, committed everything to the cause,” Gray says. “It’s going to be a hell of a mission. No lifts, just legs.”
Hellish is definitely one way to describe it. But you can’t knock people who take on crazy challenges in service of a worthy cause.
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