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By Root 243 0

boys in a double jogger when around mile 5, I began to feel a horrible searing, burning pain under the toes on my left foot. I was in so much pain, I thought I had fractured my toes. I stopped, sat down, took my shoes off, and started rubbing my toes. The pain went away immediately. I thought that was odd, so I decided to leave my shoes off and catch up to them. I finished that run feeling as though I was onto something. I found that running barefoot allows me to run much farther than I could shod. Looking back now, I think that run was by far the best run I have ever had, not in terms of quality but awareness of how important running is to me. I thank God for Morton’s Neuroma, for without it, I would never have discovered running barefoot.

—Tamara Gerken

“Six months ago, I started running barefoot on hard surfaces. Prior to that, I ran for three years with running shoes. I started to get very bad pains in my knee, even when walking. I was starting to limp and couldn’t walk up the stairs. I tried those worthless knee straps which didn’t work. I went to a Sports Medicine Doctor. He indicated that because of relatively weak thigh muscles and a lack of proper foot support, my knees were becoming inflamed. (Odd, I have no support barefoot and the pain is gone.) He told me to relieve the pain by icing my knees immediately after running and to take an anti-inflammatory like ibuprofen or aspirin after running. The doctors like to treat the symptoms but not address the problem.

One day, I did a search on Google®. I typed in ‘knee hurts while running’ and found barefoot running sites, did the research, and it made sense. I started barefoot running, and the knee pain went away within one week. I haven’t had any knee pain for six months now. I look forward to running now. I never have to ice any joints, and I don’t have to take aspirin. This weekend I ran a 5K. A woman asked me if it hurts to run barefoot. I told her, “No. I started running barefoot to take away knee pain.” She replied that she doesn’t get knee pain either with shoes because she gets cortisone shots in the knee! I feel this is treating the symptom and not the problem. Barefoot running saves money!!! No running shoes, no sports medicine doctor fees or medicine!

—Barefoot Larry

“I was “born to wear orthotics and knee braces.” I used barefoot running to recover from a semi-serious injury, and I’ve gotten faster after adapting a midfoot strike with minimal footwear. Before running, I was an overweight asthma patient with Osgood-Schlatter’s syndrome. I was told orthotics and heavy cushioning, along with knee braces, were essential to my health. I thought I would feel pain for the rest of my life and running just wasn’t for me. I would never be one of those ‘naturally gifted’ runners.

I started running barefoot to improve my form, but it didn’t take long for me to start thinking about ditching traditional running shoes altogether. Once I became familiar with myself and my form, my runs were no longer limited to the amount of pain I could withstand. Taking off big, clunky shoes has allowed my feet to teach me about my body and feel the signals that teach me how to run.

My season has consisted of running several races and competing in several triathlons and has been a season of transition. I completed my first half-Ironman triathlon and an off-road 50K race. The longer races were with shoes, but I have full confidence that I will be ready to repeat these performances, as well as a 50-mile ultra, either barefoot or in minimalist footwear.

Running barefoot, in my experience, has been completely absent of the typical symptoms involved with shod running. My leg muscles have not been sore, I have had no joint swelling, and my recovery has been overnight in the longest of cases.”

—Jesse Scott

Barefoot Resources

Barefoot Running UniversityTM (http://barefootrunninguniversity.com)—My barefoot and ultramarathon site

Barefoot ChroniclesTM Blog (http://barefootjason.blogspot.com/)—Blog covering my barefoot ultramarathon adventures

Barefoot Runners Society (http://barefootrunners.org)