In honor of today’s Boston Marathon, I want to share a site dedicated to barefoot running. With the success of Chris McDougall’s book Born to Run about the Tarahumara Indians, more athletes have become interested in “natural” ways of running.
There is still more hype than science around the benefits of running without shoes. We do know that humans evolved to run long distances. We also know that most Africans who grow up running unshod tend to strike the ground with their forefeet first. What we don’t know is whether returning to this kind of running offers any gain for those of us in urban centers.
For now, researchers remind us to run the way we feel most comfortable.