Social media influencer 'Tampa Terrence' runs Boston Marathon barefoot for charity

TAMPA, Fla. - A University of Tampa graduate accomplished a unique feat, running the 2026 Boston Marathon barefoot.

Terrence Concannon completed the 26.2-mile race barefoot, raising money for Tenacity, a Boston charity which supports education for at-risk youth.

The backstory:

Concannon says the idea of running the marathon barefoot came to him last year when he was watching the Boston Marathon.

Although, Concannon didn't find out he'd be able to run until February.

The social media content creator and influencer only had about 40 days to train.

Concannon's training program consisted of barefoot runs along Bayshore Boulevard and many more unconventional rituals, including running over pounds of Legos, barefoot hikes, toe-knuckle sprints, squats and jump ropes.

Concannon is known around Tampa as "Tampa Terrence" or the "barefoot guy." He says it's always helped him feel grounded, but that barefoot running is a completely different style of running.

What they're saying:

"It's kind of like, hard to explain, because you're really not putting any pressure on your feet," Concannon said. "You're trying to land as soft as possible. So, that's like, very unique. And it was funny, actually, I had this woman reach out to me. She's done a hundred barefoot marathons, and she sent me like the funniest text. She was like, 'I know you're worried about the cold.’ She's like, ‘I've done hundreds of these, you know, I've gone on snow and ice. It's gonna be really tough at first, but once you settle in, like, you'll be fine.’ So, hearing that message was so reassuring and, like, made me feel like a lot better about it."

With such a short training window, Concannon says he knew this was going to be an uphill challenge.

"Running is so hard, and the levels to running are just crazy," Concannon said. "Especially when you're running distance like that, you basically hit a wall. The most miles that I did was like 16. I hit the biggest wall ever when I was in Tampa, like two weeks ago. I did 16, and I was like, ‘I really don't know if I could do this. It's gonna be a grind.’ But if it wasn't for the crowd, the Boston Marathon crowd is the most insane thing ever. I'm pretty sure there's 700,000 people that go along the whole road. So, you're seeing just thousands of people. You go past two colleges that go crazy. So, that energy is basically what got me through it, because I really don't think I could have done it if I was just running alone, you know."

Dig deeper:

Concannon's goal was to finish the marathon in under four hours, and he finished in about three hours and 57 minutes.

Over the last 24 hours, he's been in recovery mode.

"I was shocked," Concannon said. "The feet feel really good. What hurts the most is my IT band for some reason, which, like, runs along the side of your leg. That's the only thing that's sore, which means, like, I can barely like, get up, because my knee was, like, so bended because I was like, leaning forward, you know, so I have more of like, a bend on my knee. So yeah, that just hurts. I can barely like, sit down and stand up. But other than that, the feet are fine. Which is great, they held up awesome."

What's next:

Right now, Concannon doesn't have plans to run another barefoot marathon in the future, but he says it was a fulfilling experience.