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selling barefoot running


Born to Run? L


No other issue within the sports industry has caused as much contention as the rise in barefoot running. SGB speaks to the key protagonists involved…


ike many others trying to shake off that dreaded post- Christmas ‘winter


have evolved as endurance running specialists, why do 80% of us injure ourselves every year? LEE SAXBY


If humans running Barefoot


should be a personal choice but I personally come down heavily in favour of footwear.


DR SIMON BARTOLD


coat’ due to consuming far too much turkey than was good for me, I sought out my trusted well-cushioned stability running trainers. What greeted me was a sorry sight with said trainers in a torrid state and in need of the kiss of life. What was it to be? Asics? Brooks? Saucony? However, with ten days still


that endurance running was the major evolutionary stimulus in shaping human anatomy and physiology


Evidence suggests 34 | SGB-SPORTS.COM


away from payday, investing in new trainers was not an option. What should I do? And then eureka! I remembered that I needed to write an article on the rise of barefoot running in the UK. I had always meant to test out this growing phenomenon for myself but never had. Sorted! Off to the gym I went, minus my poor battered and bruised running trainers. Five minutes into my fi rst run of the New Year in my local gym, I was stopped in full fl ow by the manager who informed me of the gym’s policy that ‘suitable running clothing and shoes had to be worn at all times’. Undeterred by this interruption to my New Year fi tness regime, I skulked off to the swimming pool to do my best Michael Phelps/ Eric the Eel impression! Herein lays the crux of the issue. No subject has divided the sports and fi tness industry so much as the rise in barefoot running. From scholars to athletes, the merit of disregarding traditional footwear in favour of barefoot has been hotly debated. The movement has origins in Christopher McDougall’s book


‘Born to Run’ where the author spends time with a Mexican tribe who are able to run long distances barefoot without suff ering injuries. This prompted McDougall to proclaim that everything modern technology has taught us about running is wrong. On fi rst thought, the notion seems startling but looking back through history how did ancient tribes cope with travelling large distances to gain access to a water supply for instance? “It would be disrespectful


to mother nature to think that the foot is badly designed,” said Matt Wallden from Primal Lifestyle, specialists in minimalist footwear. “The reality is that any animal’s foot is perfectly designed to traverse the terrains it was required to traverse during its evolutionary heritage. For humans, that includes many diff erent substrates, from sand, to forest fl oors, to soft mud, to mud baked hard, to rock.” This view from minimalist


footwear specialists such as Vivobarefoot and Vibram FiveFingers has received mixed reviews from scholars. At last year’s Asics UKSEM conference where a barefoot running debate took place, Dr Simon Bartold, International Research Consultant for Asics, was particularly sceptical of the new phenomenon. “Barefoot running should be a personal choice but I personally come down heavily in favour of footwear. You don’t walk on your hands, but you do walk on your feet. In today’s society with manmade surfaces, you need protection. From a sporting perspective and from research


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