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| Michael Sandler wows an unshod crowd! |
This past weekend, the folks at
Travel Country (an outdoor store here in the Orlando area) put on a terrific barefoot-style running event. Over 100 barefoot runners took to the
Seminole Wekiva Trail for a 5k run following a thoroughly worthwhile barefoot running clinic put on by the inestimable
Michael Sandler. Michael is the author of an informative, engaging, and eminently readable book called
Barefoot Running and, for my money, one of barefoot running's best ambassadors. (I'll be posting an in-depth review of
Barefoot Running soon, by the way.)
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| A wonderful run with an important payoff. |
A gathering of barefoot runners like this is a
happening all by itself but the real value of this event came at the end when Travel Country presented a check for
over three thousand dollars to the
MD Anderson Cancer Center. If Travel Country's marketing maven, Roger Watson, was plying his trade in New York instead of Central Florida, people would call him a
mensch. I'll just content myself, though, to describing him as a great guy who's doing great work to support an organization that touches the lives of thousands of patients and their families.
Congratulations to Roger and Travel Country for an outstanding inaugural effort for what I'm sure will become an eagerly anticipated annual event. It was a blast.
Update: Click
here for event photos. As
Dr. Winston O'Boogie once said, "You should have been there."
Barefoot running is fun as long as one can endure running at different places with different types of terrains, asphalt, concrete, rocky road, etc. I have to admit, I can't stand barefoot running. I have to be wearing some kind of barefoot shoes. I tried running in the past three months, but the experience wasn't that pleasant to me. As alternative to my ordeal, I use Vibram Five Fingers. What I like about this shoes is that it also mimics the feeling of barefoot running. Plus, it also provides, protection and benefits for our lower legs; It's really great. If you might be interested about barefoot shoes, you can visit the linkhere.
ReplyDeleteThere are a number of barefoot advocates who are purists, i.e. they don't believe in wearing anything on your feet for reasons that seem almost mystical. I'm on the record as agreeing with Christopher McDougall on this one: the REAL issue is form, not footwear. If you're striding properly, there's a slew of shoes that can work. I've run in Vibrams and they're certainly adequate but I'm not a huge fan. I find them difficult to get on and off and they don't accommodate conditions like Morton's Toe (which I have slightly). Terra Plana's EVOs are my current favorite in terms of both engineering and quality. It'll be interesting to see what happens as the next generation of minimalist footwear hits the market.
ReplyDelete