Remember Abebe Bikila, the Ethiopian trailblazer who clinched the 1960 Rome Olympic marathon barefoot, smashing the world record at 2:15:16? Under Rome’s floodlit cobblestones, he powered past Rhadi Ben Abdesselam to win by 25 seconds at the Arch of Constantine, igniting global inspiration. Later, Britain’s Ron Hill took a 1965 marathon unshod, Americans like Hal Higdon logged track records without shoes, and today’s standouts include New Yorkers such as Kristopher Wood in NYC and India’s Thomas Bobby Philip at Boston. Now, Boston welcomes another barefoot hero, powered by a bold initiative.

Terrence Concannon became the youngest person, at 24, to run and complete the entire Boston Marathon barefoot, leaving his running shoes at home. Not only that, he raised an incredible $13,000 for charity by racing in support of Tenacity.

“You can’t beat this guys. Special city. Much love,” Concannon said on social media.

And this wasn’t done on some whim or fancy, where Concannon woke up on the day of the race and decided to do it. Instead, the 24-year-old had been preparing and training for months, albeit in the weirdest ways possible. But clearly his training worked in his favour as the social media star finished the 26-plus-mile course in 03:57:23 as per the marathon’s official website.

He became only the fifth person to do that and the youngest among them. His decision, however, to undertake the challenge came after watching his friend race in the 2024 edition. That inspired Terrence Concannon, and in February, he got the chance to run with the Tenacity Marathon Team in Boston. It’s a charity that helps less-advantaged Boston youth with a variety of things, including education.

“Up until then, I had never run more than two miles (~3.2km),” Concannon told Canadian Running. “I thought about how sick it would be to run barefoot–so I’m basically trying to run a sub-four marathon in less than 50 days of training completely barefoot.”

His training regimen, however, is as weird as they come, as the 24-year-old trained his bare feet to run on a variety of surfaces. That includes seashells, Legos, kicking watermelons, and more, while also doing the usual strength training, sprints, jump ropes, and more. Not only that, during his preparation for the Boston Marathon, Concannon even did a 16-mile barefoot run, which surprised him.

But his decision to do it barefoot came after he started living in Florida while working for Jake Paul. There, Concannon attempted to fix the problems caused by playing ice hockey as a child and into his teens, before attempting to run the Boston Marathon.

“I had bad feet from playing hockey my whole life,” Concannon added. “I decided to go completely barefoot while living in Florida to try to fix my feet.”

And he went viral for his attempt, as comedians and social media stars alike came out in support. Prime amongst that was Tampa icon and comedian Bert Kreischer, who is a massive fan of what Concannon was trying to do.

Comedian Bert Kreischer issues message of support for Terrence Concannon

For the unversed, the 24-year-old went viral in October 2024 during Hurricanes Helene and Milton. That was when he attempted to help a man living on a sailboat. Inspired by his courage and tenacity, Terrence Concannon started documenting the Tampa resident Joseph Malinowski on TikTok. That led to Concannon’s channel going viral and earning millions of views.

He eventually joined Jake Paul’s team as a social media creator. He has since used that presence to improve his standing ahead of the Boston Marathon. That included reaching out to comedian and Tampa icon Bert Kreischer, who was more than willing to send a message of support.

“My name’s Bert Kreischer,” the comedian said in a video on Instagram. “I’m a standup comedian. This is Tampa Terrence. I follow this guy ’cause he goes everywhere barefoot, and he is running the Boston Marathon barefoot. Here’s the thing. I’m posting this. I, I’m, I’m shooting this for him, but please help him out at different mileage.

“Have surprises for him. Someone get him, like, a fro-yo. Someone get him a Big Gulp. Someone get him some Poroso’s vodka. Get him whatever he needs, and then at Heartbreak Hill, he’s gonna need nudity. Male nudity and female nudity. He doesn’t care. Gender is fluid for him. His pronouns are they, them, and the, as in this dude.”

In the end, Concannon delivered on both fronts, completing the Boston Marathon barefoot while raising $13,000 for charity. It capped off a remarkable effort that turned an unconventional approach into a record-setting performance on one of running’s biggest stages.