Where Are the Barefoot Runners?

Yesterday I read another article on barefoot running.

It got me thinking. Then wondering.

Have I ever run across a barefoot runner?

No, I haven't.

I like the idea of barefoot running. The theory that a human 'has everything they already need to run' seems right on. I recently heard that children posses better running form than adults because they run naturally as opposed to adults who fall into habits (be good or bad) over time.

I have run in to a few people wearing Vibram Five Fingers or other minimalist shoes. But I always wonder how far they're running or how often they run.

I've thought about barefoot or minimalist shoe running. I'm just not sure how I'd incorporate it in to training. I think I'd have to ditch my Saucony's for, well, nothing. Or close to nothing.

If Nike and other big athletic retailers have, (to quote the idea in the book Born To Run) 'created the need for running shoes', I'm ok with giving money to the man and buying in to the idea.

I recently compared barefoot running to sleeping on the floor. Sure, it's available, but why would you when there's a posturepedic mattress right next to it?

Born To Run

Christopher McDougall is the author of "Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen."

McDougall's book has a cult -like following in the running community. Last winter, while laid up with a knee injury, I read this book.

When hanging out with a group of runners, the subject of barefoot running is a hot topic.

McDougall is an advocate for barefoot running, which is has been all the rage in the last two years. Then again, it was the all the rage hundreds or thousands of years ago too, before the invention of cushioned running shoes.

His book talks about running mechanics, the mass marketing of running gadgets (which he thinks we don't need), edurance racing, ultra marathoning, and a tribe of Indians in the Cooper Canyons of Mexico called the Tarahumara.

Below is a video of Christopher McDougall discussing 2009's New York City Marathon and how Derartu Tulu's compassion and athleticism in that race encompasses some themes of his book: