Run, run as fast as you can

Running through the Valley of the Kings in Egypt

Calling all runners. Today is the last day to register for the May 24 Marathon Derby. Everyone ready for the 13.1 miles in a week? Have you registered for the race? Have your running clothes ready? How about your feet?

Yes feet. No, not shoes. Feet.

For many, running shoes are now a superfluous part of their exercise regime. Yep! Barefoot running. Actually I saw one girl running sans-shoes in a 20 km three weeks ago here in Bermuda. I meant to ask her why and how she did it. But, well, the race started….so….here’s what I’ve found on this phenom.

Barefoot running is more than one girl in Bermuda. It is a traveling trend on the up-swing. Just last year Christopher McDougall wrote the book: “Born to Run”  and various studies and stalwarts of the natural sole selection proclaim it a healthier way to run.

Their reasons? 1. They can feel the asphalt beneath their feet and it’s invigorating. 2. It causes less injuries than running with shoes.

Barefoot Ken Bob is one of the stalwarts. Check out his blog to prove it. He has run 77 marathons and only one of those was with shoes! And contradictory it is also the slowest time of any of his races – more than five hours.

Then there are the Vibram Five Fingers. These light-weight shoes isolate the toes and are supposed to help not hide our feet from the real world. Unlike our regular shoes, according to their website these will safely work-out our feet.

Their website states: “The typical human foot is an anatomical marvel of evolution with 26 bones, 33 joints, 20 muscles, and hundreds of sensory receptors, tendons and ligaments. Like the rest of the body, to keep our feet healthy, they need to be stimulated and exercised.”

While others are not so sure. www.runningbarefootisbad.com which is written by an anonymous blogger and points out some of the absurd arguments made by the barefoot runners of the world. The best? Do barefoot runners fly in planes? Good point. We used to run barefoot. Now we don’t. We never flew. Now we do.

Barefoot traveling. Interesting. For me….I don’t think so. I think I will stick with my shoes and keep up the miles! Good luck to all those training and see you May 24!