Eddie Izzard, the British comedian and actor turned fanatical runner, has pledged to run 27 marathons around South Africa in 27 days in honour of Nelson Mandela's 27 years in prison.
Ian- do you know what type of footwear he wore in 2009???
I believe he has been doing the barefoot thing for the past 6 months or so, but I may be mistaken...
Will be interesting to see how he goes- I think terrain will be a big factor.
It has even made me sign up to twitter to follow!
Yeah he's got previous. I'm not certain about the shoes he wore last time, but from memory when watching it on TV I recall that they were definately a road running shoe (perhas a Nike?)
So he's not running barefoot. It's important to remember that barefoot running kinematics are not the same as shod running kinematics, even when the shoe in question
has a thin sole.
I'm with you - hence my placement of the word barefoot within quotation marks in the title.
All that has been said is that he will be running comletely barefoot at times, and when not then in a "barefoot shoe".
Craig - quick google suggests shoe for his 43 marathons was the NB 576 [EDIT: He was given a pair of custom made 576's as a present afterwards - he definately wore New Balance for the challenge - model TBC]
I wonder if they will be still singing if he gets a stress fracture??
As I said a big factor will be the terrain- there is a big difference in load between running on natural irregular surfaces and city streets!
Good luck to him!
I agree.
I'm a fan of his so I really hope he does well.
That said I wonder if anyone has advised him he could soon become a pin-up boy for the barefoot community?? (those at the fanatical end of the spectrum at least)
Whilst on the Vivobarefoot website (hoping to find a video of Lee Saxby coaching Eddie) I came across this on their homepage.
For those who can't quite read the small text from the print screen I took:
HARVARD STUDY SHOWS:
HEEL STRIKING TWICE AS LIKELY TO GET YOU INJURED
THAN FOREFOOT STRIKING. MINIMAL SHOES INCREASE
PERFORMANCE BY 5%
What's that smell? A steaming turd sprinkled with research misinterpretation you say...
If anyone outside UK was unaware Eddie is quite partial to a spot of cross-dressing.
So if the barefoot marathons don't get him the high heels might...
I see he didnt quite make the 27 marathons and has pulled out citing "unforeseen medical complications":
In an online message to his fans, he said: "I set out to run 27 marathons in 27 days as a tribute to Nelson Mandela and his 27 years spent in prison.
"Having completed four marathons, unfortunately, I have had to put my attempt on hold due to unforeseen medical complications that have arisen due to a multitude of factors including severe terrain, humidity and altitude.
"But I wish to say that my attempt is not over and I will return to South Africa and run the 27 marathons and finish this story."
He added: "I owe that to Nelson Mandela, who has inspired the world to struggle and succeed no matter what obstacles are thrown at us."
He didn't even make is one sixth of the way of what he promised his "fans".
I'm sure the memory of Nelson Mandela would have been well represented if he had just run 27 miles, and not unrealistically promised to run 27 marathons in 27 days.
Promised 27 Marathons in 27 Days, Only Did 4......
Reminds me a little of Evel Knievel who, in 1974, promised everyone he was going to ride his rocket powered vehicle over the Snake River Canyon and land on the opposite side of the canyon, only to have his parachute open soon after going off the initial ramp.
What Evel promised the media he was going to do and what he actually he actually knew he was going to be able to do were probably two very different things.
However, he still got the attention, money and publicity from the "event".
Seems strangely familiar to Eddie Izzard and his promise to run 27 marathons in 27 days......