Joseph Michael Liu Kai-Tsu Roqueni is an engineer from Montreal, Canada, who recently decided to run for charity. However, Joseph isn’t running your usual marathon: he plans to run from Canada to Argentina in 18 months and barefoot!
Joseph, who describes himself as a “Chexican” thanks to his mixed heritage of Chinese, Mexican and Canadian, isn’t running for just one particular charity, but a handful of them. He is also still looking for charities from various different cities to add to his growing list.
Joseph began his great run on July 2 and his plan is to run two and a half hours or 25 kilometers twice a day, which ever comes first. He will be crossing 14 different countries and will cover approximately 19,000 kilometers!
While a person has run this much before, Joseph stands out because he will do it without a team to support him and without shoes! He has packed himself a small first aid kid and has a button he can press to call a rescue helicopter if needed. He has also packed four pairs of running sandals which he plans to use only if his feet get too blistered or sore to run barefoot.
Joseph trained for only a year and practiced running on all sorts of grounds, but plans to avoid running on pavements because those are the worst for bare feet. If he falls ill during the trek, he says he will return to Canada to get better and then resume the run!