In the event you haven’t heard of Barefoot Bobby, he’s a 58-year-old runner from Bangalore, India, who has taken the world by storm together with his uncommon method to working—barefoot. Final Sunday, on the 2024 Mumbai Marathon, Bobby ran one of many quickest instances of his profession, ending in 3:11:47 for third within the males’s 55-59 age group.
Barefoot Bobby’s working journey started in 2009, when he began coaching together with his daughter for a college race. Whereas his daughter finally stopped working, Bobby, whose actual identify is Thomas Philip, continued to see how far he may go. He wound up at a Nike retailer in his hometown to seize a pair of sneakers, however they didn’t final him so long as he would’ve preferred, so he ditched them altogether.
Since 2012, Bobby has been working barefoot and has tackled each race distance from 5K to 50K. In 2015, he grew to become the primary runner from India to finish the Boston Marathon barefoot. He continued to make waves by working a 3:12 marathon on the 2017 NYC Marathon (additionally barefoot).
When requested why he does this, Bobby factors to his minimalist method. “I do my quickest runs barefoot, and that’s how I began and I’ve simply saved it up,” he stated in a 2023 interview. “The cheer I get from others working each day; these moments are valuable. Operating barefoot has put me outdoors my consolation zone.”
Not too long ago retired from a profession in telecommunications, Bobby now has the time to completely pursue his ardour. He has an intensive listing of races he hopes to knock off within the subsequent two years—all barefoot, after all.
Given the mileage he’s put in, you may assume Bobby’s toes are product of metal, however he insists that barefoot working continues to be a problem. He finds it virtually inconceivable to run barefoot within the chilly, as all the things feels sharper and extra painful. A 5K is the hardest distance for him, as it’s extra bodily demanding on his toes.
Whereas we will’t verify if there’s any blood relation between Barefoot Bobby and the legendary Ethiopian marathoner Abebe Bikila, who received the 1960 Olympic Marathon in Rome barefoot, Bobby’s instances and dedication to barefoot working are nonetheless spectacular.
