Saturday, February 21, 2009

Running Barefoot.....

I have heard about people that run barefoot, and for the life of me I don't get it. Why in the world would you subject the bottom of your feet to such abuse? Heck, my feet hurt from running in nice shoes, with thick sock, and gel insoles. 

I ran across an article about a barefoot runner that I wanted to share with you all. This guy has run about 40 marathons barefoot, and he now has over 550 consecutive days of running barefoot...you can see the article here:


The runner's name is Rick Roeber and he lives in the Kansas City area. Evidently, running barefoot helps resolve his knee issues, and he is convinced that running shoes give people a false sense of security and teach you to run improperly. I am not so sure. He says that he he is saving money (probably true), but he also says "I've probably only had to pick a half-dozen pieces of glass out of my feet in the last five years." That's a half dozen more than me.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

We saw some barefoot runners at a marathon last fall and lo and behold the barefoot guys took #1 and #2.

Nikemom said...

EW! OUCH! EEE! OHHH! I ran barefoot when I was young, ya know "running around the neighborhood" with the neighbor kids. Glad they make running shoes. :D

Mel-2nd Chances said...

Ouch! Amazing that they can and choose to do it, but i'll stick with running in shoes too...

SuperDave said...

I read the article about the barefoot runner.
When I ran cross county back in Jr. High our coach made us run barefoot once a week to strengthen our feet.
Won't dare do it now.

Denise said...

I've heard about this before. And I guess I can see how shoes can cause problems, but I can't imagine running without them!

ShirleyPerly said...

I can see how barefoot running would help some people run better by avoiding heel-toe foot striking but I'd only ever do it on a surface where there was no threat of glass, thorns or other foot unfriendlies. I once stepped on some glass during my swim-to-bike transition in a triathlon and it was no fun.