Farmer to run three barefoot marathons in three days

A young farmer from Somerset is in training to run the equivalent of more than three marathons in three days without shoes.

Matteo Grasso, 25, said he was taking on the 82-mile (132km) Jurassic Coast Challenge, external to raise money to create kitchen gardens at a local school.

He plans to run the route from Charmouth to Studland in Dorset on consecutive days between 22 and 24 March.

Running barefoot will make it “a bit more challenging”, Mr Grasso told BBC Radio Somerset.

He will run the route with his brother Giacomo Grasso and colleague Basil Gibson, who will both be wearing shoes.

The trio work at Higher Farm near Castle Cary, where they practise sustainable farming.

They plan to build kitchen gardens at Hazlegrove Prep School in Sparkford to teach pupils about the benefits of locally grown, natural food.

Mr Grasso said, for example, if you were to ask most children where a carrot grows, “they wouldn't know if it came from underground or from a tree.

“That connection [to nature] is subtle but it’s very important.”

Mr Grasso said his feet have changed over the course of his six months of training.

“I started experimenting barefoot around the farm and thought maybe I can use this to make my challenge a bit more challenging,” he said.

He said his goal was to make his feet like “Hobbit feet”, referencing the barefoot, leathery-soled characters in JRR Tolkien’s Middle-earth novels.

The group is aiming to raise £8,000 through crowdfunding, external, which will be used to pay for plants and equipment at Hazelgrove.

They said they will volunteer their time to build the kitchen gardens.

The project could be expanded to further schools if more money is raised, they added.