From: Ken Saxton
Subject: barefoot running
Date: Mon, 16 Jun 1997 09:21:02 -0700

Saturday I ran my first competitive race in over 7 years. It was 10 mile
trail course. I ran barefoot, of course. I would say that runners who are
serious enough to run these events seem to be very open minded and
legitimately curious about doing it barefoot. I was the only person, of
several hundred competitors, running barefoot. Yet, of all these people, I
only heard a few comments (from slower runners as I passed them) like, "I
could never do that!" Most were curious to see the bottoms of my feet, and
suprised that they look pretty normal, not all scarred up or cracked. One
guy I paced with for a few minutes was from Nigeria. He said he used to run
like that all the time, but didn't think he could now (I assume he has been
living in the USA for a time).

After a few people asked if it hurt my feet to run barefoot? I worked out a
good reply, as Linda Wright suggests, answer their question with a question.
"Doesn't it hurt to run with those on your feet?" To which, many runners
said was a good point. One guy said that the shoe sponsors must really hate
me, "where would they be if running barefoot caught on?" I said that people
had been doing it for thousands of years and it doesn't seem to be catching on.

I started out at the back of the crowd. It not only gave me a good feeling
to pass so many people (the psychological effect of passing so many people
cannot be underestimated), but I was able to talk with several about my
barefeet while stuck in the crowd at the begining. Another interesting
benefit was that so many racers couldn't help notice I was running barefoot
as I passed them.

It was a hilly course on a dirt trail. Mostly up, with a few downs, for 5
miles, then back the same way, mostly down, with a few ups. There was a
creek crossing the trail about a half mile from the start and finish lines.
The first crossing, on the way out, all of the shod runners I saw, went
around to a narrow point to jump or step accross. I just looked at the creek
and said, "this isn't a problem for my shoes." The people near me laughed as
they took the time to go around.

I steadily passed most of the crowd on the first 4 or so miles out and up
the hills. About a mile or so from the turnaround, I noticed it was getting
harder to pass people (No duh, Ken!). The runners were scarcer and faster.
But, the answer came in the down hills. Partly because of a discussion I had
with Tammy, the wife of Cathys (my wife) flight instructor, about running
downhill. She said, and I agreed that most people seem afraid of running
downhill, and don't take advantage of the natural acceleration of gravity. I
would pace with a runner up the hill, then on the downhill, I would let
gravity carry me past them. At least, I didn't have to worry about tripping
over my shoelaces.

On the way back, I was running all alone, as I had passed most of the pack,
and the leaders were several minutes ahead of me. I may have gotten some of
the spectators wet as I ran through the creek without slowing down. Later,
after  finishing, I came back to soak my feet in the cool water and several
other runners and spectators thought it was funny how so many of the
runners, after running this far, were worried about getting their shoes wet.

I didn't win the race, but I did pretty good. I finished the 10 miles 41st
place overall, 8th place for my age group (40-45), 1 hour, 11 minutes and 6
seconds was my time (about 7:07 per mile).

I felt almost like a celebrity as many of the runners "interviewed" me,
after the event, about running barefoot. One man, who looked like an old
hippy, didn't run, but had brought his son to run, said he used to walk
barefoot all the time but, couldn't even walk comfortably barefoot on his
carpet anymore. I told him, "You've got to get some new carpet, man!" He
laughed.
Ken

http://www.engr.csulb.edu/~ksaxton