Sunday, May 5, 2013 at 1 PM was the largest known gathering of barefoot runners and walkers in Idaho. A wide range of experience was represented. The group of 9 people spent most of the hour exchanging barefoot stories, then completed a 1/2 mile run. The run was across grass in hard packed soil and over a semi-smooth asphalt greenbelt path. About half of the participants walked due to things like recent surgery or being new to running.
The runner who had logged the most barefoot miles has only been running with bare feet for a year, but has already completed marathons and ultra distance races running barefooted. He reported to have run in temperatures as low as 20°F during the winter, but only in dry weather. He is the coordinator of a race in Boise (September 14, 2013) that is specifically promoting barefoot running.
Half of the participants were related to the president of the Idaho Chapter of the Barefoot Runners Society (me), but they were willing participants. 🙂 In fact, one of them recently won the woman’s first place in the Beat Coach Pete race at BSU, while running with bare feet. Her prize? A pair of shoes. I guess the race coordinators were not paying attention…. The other family members have run mostly in minimalist shoes, but are hoping to transition to more real barefoot time for the training benefits and fun.
One attendee admitted to thinking that “runners are people that have lost their bikes,”but said if he does EVER run, he’ll do it with bare feet. He does have a very barefooted life style (except when riding his bike) and thought it would be fun to meet like-minded people.
There was some discussion of how goathead burrs are merely a small nuisance to those with toughened feet. The stickers are only felt as minimal pricks, and are easily removed with hardly missing a step in the run. Other conversation included agreeing that barefoot running is much easier on the joints and much more possible than most people think. Those who have spent the most time running with bare feet had the darkest feet, but it was mostly from being out in the sun so much! And it’s much easier to wash feet than shoes and more really sticks to the bottom of shoes with all their tread, so all the worries about “hygiene” would be kind of funny, if they weren’t so annoying.
At the end of the meeting there was a vote that began as a show of support for me as the president, but ended up being a vote about who likes ice cream. It looked good for the photo. We were truly a group of kindred soles.
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