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Mike Humphrey’s jet-black hair flopped over his headband as he curved around the banks of the Seine River. His lungs still felt pretty good at mile 21 but his feet were absolutely killing him. That’ll happen when you’re running the entire Paris Marathon in a pair of Tecnica Cochise 130s. A few miles later, the Englishman crossed the finish line, logging a time of 6 hours, 33 minutes, and 19 seconds in bright orange ski boots. Around him, jaws dropped and phones popped out. No one had seen anything quite like this.
Interestingly, Humphreys was not the first to run 26.2 miles in ski boots, and he certainly wasn’t the fastest. That record belongs to Paul Bennett, who completed the London Marathon in 5 hours, 30 minutes, and 20 seconds in 2021. That effort beat a previous 2019 mark by a mere 7 seconds. So, we have to ask: Why the hell are grown men running marathons in ski boots?
The answer is actually quite simple: To get our attention. Humphreys ran his 2025 race to raise awareness (and a healthy amount of funding) for Motor neurone disease (MND) research. Bennett, who dressed as the affable English ski jumper Eddie the Eagle, raised nearly $10,000 for a medical rehab center for veterans. The list of finishers, and charities goes on from there.
It turns out running in the most uncomfortable footwear known to humankind has a way of tugging at heart strings and loosening purse strings. At the very least, it sure makes it onto a headline or two—which is a huge win for research efforts that spend most of their year looking for any kind of recognition or funding.
There’s likely an easier way to raise a few bucks in the name of a good cause, but sometimes the easy way just doesn’t cut the mustard. For those that need a little extra attention (and blisters) to go with their good deeds, there’s nothing quite like running a quarter of a day in hard, unforgiving plastic. Humphreys would now
Within a few weeks of his Paris finish, a new pair of Tecnica Cochise showed up at his doorstep. No word on whether these boots will make it to the snow or a new start line, but here’s to hoping his next race is all downhill from here.
