A 34-year-old Irishman, Eamonn Keaveney, has set a world record for the longest barefoot journey, covering the distance from Istanbul to his hometown of Claremorris in Ireland in 369 days, according to infohub.kz.
Starting in Turkey, Keaveney then walked through Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Germany, France, England, and Wales before reaching Ireland. Along the route, he had to endure asphalt, rocky roads, heat, and cold.
Due to the long walks, the skin on his feet was worn raw and bleeding, and he stepped on glass and thorns. Once, after a thorn prick, he developed an infection that forced him to stop for a week. Shortly before the finish, he also broke a toe after stumbling along the way.
Before the journey, Keaveney specifically trained to get used to the loads and walked and ran barefoot as often as possible. However, he named not the road but the backpack with his belongings, which he had to carry constantly, as the most uncomfortable challenge.
Along the way, he had to get used to surprised looks and sometimes encountered misunderstanding. For example, in some shops and restaurants, he was refused service because he was not wearing shoes. Keaveney said that more often people were simply interested in his journey and often tried to help.
This record was not the first for the Irishman. In 2016, he already walked 2,080 km barefoot across all of Ireland. And in 2023, Keaveney crossed the country on a unicycle in five days, five hours, and 23 minutes.
Earlier, Kursiv LifeStyle wrote that a 76-year-old ataška walked almost 3,000 km on foot to Paris.