Dutchman breaks world record by walking 3,450 km barefoot

The 37-year-old Dutch war veteran Anton Nootenboom has walked 3,450 kilometers barefoot in 175 days, breaking the world record. He set the Guinness World Record on Sunday afternoon in Saint Louis (Missouri) at 15:00 local time. Before that, the record was 3,409.75 kilometers walked by the Polish Pawel Durakiewicz.

After breaking the record, Nootenboom, also known as the Barefoot Dutchman, will continue walking another 1,700 kilometers to New York. His spokesperson reported that he was expected to arrive in Times Square on November 2. His walk started on February 17 of this year on Santa Monica Beach in California. His goal was to walk from Los Angeles to New York, which would break the world record.

According to the spokesperson, Nootenboom is “completely exhausted.” He is “suffering with boiling hot roads” now that temperatures are hitting 35 degrees every day.

Nootenboom is covering all those kilometers barefoot to draw attention to men’s mental health. He is concerned with this subject because of his time in the army. With crowdfunding for the walk, he has raised 18,749 euros so far. That money will go to various organizations that focus on men’s mental well-being.