Barefoot Running
Footwear, accepted and denied
Running for sport and recreation are perhaps as unique as the enthusiasts who first roused the market. Today, that market (running shoes) is changing. While the 21st century has propelled us into an “age of hyper-engineered performance gear and space-age wicking fabrics;” barefoot running has reinvented the marketplace, while simultaneously inspiring the new generation (Sprinkle 2004).
The idea that running barefoot can be beneficial is a relatively liberal idea in a comparatively conservative culture (today’s running community, particularly with respect to shoes). And, while the majority of research on the evolution of human locomotion has focused primarily on walking, the demand for a new perspective on running has taken hold (Bramble & Liebermann 2004).
When Ken Bob Saxton first pioneered the “barefoot running movement” around 1998, the year he started keeping track of races he had completed in the absence of shoes; the U.S. scene for distance running was experiencing a decline in performance consistent at the Olympic level (Kenyans, Ethiopians, and smaller East African nations were leading the pack). Moreover, America’s love of running had declined greatly since the 1960’s and 70’s jogging boom when Steve Prefontaine was breaking records and challenging runners internationally. Effectively, the 21st century needed a wave of new pioneers to revive distance running in the U.S.
Saxton, albeit not singlehandedly (the philosophy has existed though has only recently become mainstream and marketable), has worked to generate awareness for the new movement through his site: “therunningbarefoot.com”. “The Running Barefoot,” self-proclaimed “the original Running Barefoot website on-line since 1997,” has set itself apart from other perhaps less-educational competition sites— sites that largely provide archives of race results and news for professionals (i.e. “Letsrun”)—as the “how-to” of barefoot running. Ken writes,
Running for sport and recreation are perhaps as unique as the enthusiasts who first roused the market. Today, that market (running shoes) is changing. While the 21st century has propelled us into an “age of hyper-engineered performance gear and space-age wicking fabrics;” barefoot running has reinvented the marketplace, while simultaneously inspiring the new generation (Sprinkle 2004).
The idea that running barefoot can be beneficial is a relatively liberal idea in a comparatively conservative culture (today’s running community, particularly with respect to shoes). And, while the majority of research on the evolution of human locomotion has focused primarily on walking, the demand for a new perspective on running has taken hold (Bramble & Liebermann 2004).
When Ken Bob Saxton first pioneered the “barefoot running movement” around 1998, the year he started keeping track of races he had completed in the absence of shoes; the U.S. scene for distance running was experiencing a decline in performance consistent at the Olympic level (Kenyans, Ethiopians, and smaller East African nations were leading the pack). Moreover, America’s love of running had declined greatly since the 1960’s and 70’s jogging boom when Steve Prefontaine was breaking records and challenging runners internationally. Effectively, the 21st century needed a wave of new pioneers to revive distance running in the U.S.
Saxton, albeit not singlehandedly (the philosophy has existed though has only recently become mainstream and marketable), has worked to generate awareness for the new movement through his site: “therunningbarefoot.com”. “The Running Barefoot,” self-proclaimed “the original Running Barefoot website on-line since 1997,” has set itself apart from other perhaps less-educational competition sites— sites that largely provide archives of race results and news for professionals (i.e. “Letsrun”)—as the “how-to” of barefoot running. Ken writes,
Cited: Burfoot, Amby. “SHOUL YOU BE RUNNING BAREFOOT?” Runners World. August 2004. Sprinkle, Tim. “The Truth About Barefoot Running”. May/June 2004. The Washington Running Report. Ken Bob, Barefoot. The Running Barefoot. 2010. <http://therunningbarefoot.com/?page_id=1209> Lieberman, Daniel E.; Bramble, Dennis M. “Endurance running and the evolution of Homo”. Nature Publishing Group. Vol. 432. 18 Nov 2004. Liberman, Daniel E.; Venkadesan, Madhusudhan; Werbel, William A.; Daoud, Adam I.; D’ Anrea, Susan; Davis, Irene S.; Mang’ Eni, Robert Ojiambo; Pitsiladis, Yannis. “Foot strike patterns and collision forces in habitually barefoot versus shod runners”. 2010 Macmillan Publishers. Vol 463. Nature 28 January 2010.