by Kathy and Bob Strain

Most of us have probably seen them – human-like footprints on a remote trail or in a dry river bed deep in the woods. You can’t help but ask yourself - why would a human be out here - walking around barefoot? Are the prints really human or are we so remote that maybe, just maybe, the prints really belong to the elusive bigfoot?

Recently a new phenomenon has come to our attention. It’s called Barefoot Running and Hiking. As the names suggest, these sports involves just you and your bare feet. No surface seems to be off-limits as many of the youtube videos demonstrating the sport are off-trail and in very rugged terrain (one shows two people hiking to the top of Mt. Whitney barefoot). Weather conditions also do not appear to be a factor, as several websites discuss snow and rain running as well.

Proponents of running and hiking barefoot suggest that it is healthier for the foot and body as well as a “greener” way of living. Although there are no known statistics on how many people walk or run barefoot, after contacting one of the major advocates, he suggested that the practice was quickly growing within the larger running community (who funny enough, refer to themselves as barefooters). A quick search on the web found many informal localized “clubs” and large competitive events.

Admittedly, outside of Dr. Jeff Meldrum, what the rest of us know about bigfoot prints could probably fit inside a baby’s shoe. Telling the difference between a clawless doubletap bear print and a bigfoot print was already tough - now barefoot human runners and hikers have been thrown into the mix. If you aren’t already banging your head against a wall, barefooters generally train alone in very harsh terrain in order to toughen their feet for competitions.

The goal of this article was simple enough – if you ever ask yourself “would a human really walk around here barefoot?” The answer is, yes, they would.

Reference material:

Websites:

http://www.barefoot-running.com/

http://www.barefootrunner.com/

http://runningbarefoot.org/

http://barefootted.com/

http://www.barefooters.org/hikers/

http://www.livingbarefoot.info/

http://www.runbare.com/

http://barefootrunninguniversity.com/

Radio shows:

http://www.livingbarefoot.info/2009/10/the-living-barefoot-show-live-october-14th/

http://www.livingbarefoot.info/the-living-barefoot-show-podcast/

Youtube Videos:

Barefoot Ted training: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVsAgPAAqfM

Barefoot Ted and friend climbing Mt. Whitney: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAo7PcmzB5Q&feature=channel_page

winter barefoot running: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieWZs6u2Lec&feature=related

Erwan Le Corre - Barefoot Running: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwbzpyterI&feature=related

Barefoot Bob: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItXYMJkLjuY

Barefoot Bob speaks at running convention: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G7WZSSm2YM&feature=channel