Born to run the minimum

Back in April, I was running up the side of Loch Lomond on the West Highland Way. I passed a guy with an impressive beard but what was more impressive was the fact that he was walking up the rough track barefoot complete with big pack on his back. I asked how his feet were …he replied “fine” and asked me how mine were to which I replied “really feckin sair since you asked”.


A month later and I was out in oz running the 100km North Face event in the Blue Mountains and I came across some guys at registration wearing Vibram Five Finger KSOs. Ran for a while along a ridge line with one of the guys and got talking about minimalist running and it got me thinking a bit about how my own running had changed over the years.

Initially, I was mainly a road runner and suffered from shin splints and knee problems – the solution (which did actually give symptomatic relief) was cushioning shoes. Whilst not getting injured or sore, they kinda felt wrong. I noticed that my balance came from the shoe rather than from any natural ability and the wear pattern on the sole of the shoe indicated I was a rather heavy heel striker. Over the years, I have drifted into only short road runs with most of the miles (and all the long runs) either in the mountains or trails. My shoes for this have been minimal in terms of cushioning really only offering protection and grip (walshes and various inov8s). I have noticed the wear pattern on the sole has moved from the heel to the forefoot.

In the days after the Blue Mountains 100km I also started thinking about running in general. Running is a very natural behaviour (even if a significant number of adults no longer do it) and running on trails and off road is the closest thing to what we have been doing as the human race for thousands of years - running on concrete and tarmac is fairly recent and about as unnatural as you can get I suppose.

Shoes have so many aspects – fashion accessories (for both guys and the wimen folks), status symbols, socially “required”, they give protection from the surrounding environment (and therefore an element of isolation from that environment), we have work shoes, play shoes, formal shoes, casual shoes etc …

Anyway …where is all this going. In short, I decided to see if there was anything in the whole pseudo barefoot Vibram Five Finger thing. Visited the V5F shop in Sydney, got measured up and treated myself. Over the summer I have increased from walking about in them (yup …I get some very strange looks) to trotting round my wee 35 minute local road run and playing on some local trails. I have not experienced any negative points or pain probably due to already having changed my running style a bit since taking up hill running and cutting down road running a few years ago. Not sure I am a better runner for it but the big thing is that they feel good and it is great fun !!!

With a number of manufacturers now realising that folks want minimal, there is no need to go to extremes so get out there and try it. If you want a bit of inspiration then read the amazing book Born to Run, by Christopher McDougall.

Either that or watch the clip below ...maybe a bit zen but I liked it a lot.