April 8, 2014 3.30 pm This story is over 119 months old

Man runs Lincoln 10k in bare feet for charity

Barefoot bravery: A Lincoln 10k runner completed the course in an impressive time despite not wearing his running shoes.
Chris running the 10k without shoes proved a painful fundraising experience.

A local fundraiser who decided to run the Lincoln 10k in just his bare feet is now taking time to recover from the gruelling experience.

Chris Hall (31) from Lincoln, who works for East Midlands Ambulance Service within Patient Transport Service, entered the 10k on April 6 originally to try and run the race in under 40 minutes.

However, after deciding to run for Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, Chris chose to run the entire route barefoot, raising more than £500.

Chris' injured feet after his barefoot charity run.

Chris’ injured feet after his barefoot charity run.

“I entered the 10k a few months ago and was aiming to run it normally with shoes in the quickest time possible,” Chris said.

“I really wanted to run for a charity but was put off by the idea, as I was a little worried having to ask, harass or beg people for donations, plus also the embarrassment or feeling of letting the charity down if I didn’t raise a lot.

“It was only the Monday before the 10k that I decided that I really wanted to do something for the charity and I had the idea of doing it bare footed.

“It was very much a last minute decision which meant I couldn’t prepare or train for running bare footed. I managed to run 2k on the Friday night before to just see how it felt, and made it back in one piece.”

Chris with bandaged feet after the Lincoln 10k.

Chris with bandaged feet after the Lincoln 10k.

Chris managed to run the Lincoln 10k in a time of 45 minutes and has so far raised £570 for Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation.

Chris’ dad was diagnosed with lung cancer in December 2012, and has battled it since.

While he is pleased to have achieved such an interesting feat for charity, Chris is dealing with a large amount of pain in his feet due to large blood blisters.

He added: “There were certain parts of the route which were quite painful: the cobbles at the end were difficult to navigate, but other stretches of the route were relatively smooth and it was on these parts where I could pick my pace up.

“I was really pleased to finish in 45 minutes. Though it wasn’t until I stopped after the finish line that I realised the damage to my feet and the pain I was in!”

Chris has since been to the doctors and was advised his feet would remain blistered, sore and painful for up to two weeks, and recommended painkillers.

He concluded: “It has meant a lot to me to have have helped such a great cause and the amount raised so far has softened the pain!

“The support from my family and friends has been great, I have raised much more then I envisaged, and since the run I have had donations from people who saw me running or have since seen the pictures on social media.

“During the race I had runners commenting on how well I was doing and the support from the spectators was brilliant and really drove me on.

“I am certainly going to continue to fundraise in the future but haven’t decided what to do next. For now I will rest my feet until I decide!”

You can still donate to Chris’ cause on his Just Giving page.