Barefoot walker's extreme travel challenge sparks expert's warning to potential copycats

A antheral has been walking thousands of miles crossed Europe wholly barefoot, aiming to execute the authoritative Guinness World Record for the longest barefoot travel by an idiosyncratic — and his escapade has prompted a fittingness professional's informing for others who besides mightiness contemplate akin utmost feats involving lost-distance walks without shoes.

Eamonn Keaveney, 33, acceptable retired from Istanbul successful March 2025, opening a shoe-free trek of 3,400 miles that volition extremity successful Ireland, quality bureau SWNS reported. 

His way has taken him done the Balkan Mountains, on the Blue Trail successful bluish Hungary and crossed the Danube rhythm way successful Austria.

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Keaveney has been connected the roadworthy for implicit 300 days, ever since leaving his hometown successful Ireland past year. He's presently walking done County Wexford successful his location country, heading toward Davidstown, the aforesaid outlet said.

The travel has been bringing challenges, including injuries to his feet, upwind extremes and an unhappy brushwood with a canine — requiring rabies shots for him afterward.

Eamonn Keaveney, 33, is walking wholly barefoot from Istanbul to Ireland — totaling the full magnitude of Europe — successful pursuit of an authoritative record.  (Eamonn Keaveney/SWNS)

"A reasonably evident trouble has been sore feet, whether from unsmooth terrain oregon thorns and the similar hurting my feet," Keaveney said.

Long-term barefoot walking leads to respective carnal adaptations, according to Brayan Cruz, a idiosyncratic trainer astatine Crunch Fitness successful the New York City area. 

"A multi-thousand-mile barefoot travel is due lone for a small, highly conditioned population."

"The tegument connected the soles thickens and forms protective calluses, which assistance shield the ft portion inactive maintaining capable sensory feedback for equilibrium and gait control," Cruz told Fox News Digital. 

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Cruz said this challenges the communal presumption that barefoot walking reduces sensation.

"A multi-thousand-mile barefoot travel is due lone for a small, highly conditioned colonisation with years of progressive adaptation and beardown injury-management strategies," Cruz added. 

Since aboriginal past year, Keaveney's travels person taken him done the Balkan mountains successful Europe, the Blue Trail successful bluish Hungary and the Danube rhythm way successful Austria. (Eamonn Keaveney/SWNS)

For astir people, probe supports limited, controlled barefoot vulnerability arsenic a supplemental grooming instrumentality alternatively than an endurance goal, according to the trainer. 

"Individuals with neuropathy, circulatory illness oregon a past of accent fractures should debar barefoot grooming altogether."

‘I could bushed that’

Keaveney has a past of utmost endurance challenges.

In 2016, helium walked implicit 1,200 miles barefoot astir Ireland — mounting a Guinness World Record for it.

Two years later, helium climbed 10 mountains successful 10 days, again without shoes. 

The thought of the barefoot walks began years earlier during an unexpected brushwood with a grounds book. (iStock)

The thought of the barefoot walks began years earlier during Keaveney's unexpected brushwood with a grounds book.

"Many years ago, I was successful a bookstore sheltering from the rainfall erstwhile I saw the Guinness World Records publication and decided to person a look," helium told SWNS.

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"I spotted the grounds for the longest barefoot journey, and I thought, ‘I could bushed that.’"

Ever since his archetypal travel successful 2016, he’s wanted to spell connected an adjacent bigger walk, helium said. The logical adjacent measurement aft walking astir a country? Walking crossed a continent.

"A mates of years agone it struck maine that if I walked from Istanbul to Ireland, I'd person walked the magnitude of Europe."

Despite the difficulties, Keaveney said the scenery and the radical he's met person kept him going. (Eamonn Keaveney/SWNS)

During his existent walk, he's been fundraising for Jigsaw, which provides escaped intelligence wellness enactment for young people, and Friends of the Earth, an biology advocacy organization.

Early on, successful Turkey, Keaveney was bitten connected the backside by a canine and had to get vaccines for rabies.

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Despite the difficulties, helium said the scenery and the radical he's met person kept him going.

"In general, I'm precise fortunate to person fundamentally spent the full past twelvemonth outdoors." 

"I've had galore offers of water, nutrient and adjacent shoes."

He added that he’s been met with plentifulness of quality kindness. "In each state I've gone through, I've had galore offers of water, nutrient and adjacent shoes."

The logical adjacent measurement aft walking astir a country? Walking crossed a continent, according to Keaveney.  (Eamonn Keaveney/SWNS)

Currently, Guinness World Records lists the authoritative longest barefoot travel astatine 3,409.75 kilometers (around 2,118 miles) by Paweł Durakiewicz successful January 2024. Keaveney has reportedly exceeded that by now. 

Anton Nootenboom, a Dutch veteran, allegedly surpassed Durakiewicz's region during a barefoot locomotion crossed the U.S., according to immoderate media outlets. Nootenboom posted online astir a 2,169 mile-long trek from Los Angeles to New York.

Notable walks crossed America

In the U.S., respective different individuals person completed noteworthy coast-to-coast walks portion wearing shoes — including Walter O. McGill III, who walked much than 3,200 miles from North Carolina to Santa Monica Pier betwixt 2014 and 2015.

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Musician Mike Posner walked 2,851 miles from New Jersey to California successful 2019. He seemingly plans to marque different agelong trek portion hiking the Continental Divide Trail, which is astir 3,100 miles.

Other long-distance walkers see Bill Bucklew, who walked much than 2,500 miles to rise consciousness for Parkinson’s disease, and Holden Ringer, who trekked thousands of miles from Washington authorities toward Washington, D.C., pushing a stroller helium named "Smiley."

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The bestselling nonfiction question publication "A Walk Across America" by Peter Jenkins, published successful 1979, is considered a classical today, arsenic Jenkins shared the westward travel helium began successful Alfred, New York, and ended successful Florence, Oregon.

"I started retired searching for myself and my country," Jenkins wrote, "and recovered both."