Man runs barefoot half marathon in the snow to break Guinness record

Feb. 5 (UPI) -- A Norwegian runner unofficially broke a Guinness World Record when he ran a half marathon in 1 hour, 44 minutes and 58 seconds while barefoot -- in the snow.

Jonas Felde Sevaldrud, who chronicled his record attempt in a YouTube video, said the book Born to Run by Christopher McDougall inspired him to take up barefoot running, and his early attempts surprised him at how running barefoot over ice and snow wasn't as difficult as he imagined.

Sevaldrud said he decided to take on Dutch athlete Wim Hof's world record, which was set in 2007 when he ran a half marathon over ice and snow in 2 hours, 16 minutes and 34 seconds.

The runner said his first attempt at the record was called off prematurely when sharp ice caused injuries to his feet, but a few weeks later he tried again on some soft snow and had more success.

Sevaldrud said his final time beat his own goal of 1 hour and 50 minutes.

The runner said he is now waiting to hear back from Guinness about whether his attempt was successful.