The FiveFingers Settlement Didn’t Settle the Barefoot Running Debate

When I ran cross country in high school, the fastest guy on the boys team ran barefoot. I remember thinking this was wacky, especially given that a lot of the “cross country” courses were on asphalt. He had come to Connecticut from the West Coast, so I assumed at the time it was some kind of California thing. It wasn’t until many years later, in reading Christopher McDougall’s “Born to Run,” when I realized that this kid was onto something and, apparently, that the padded-shoe industrial complex was out to get me.

In “Born to Run,” McDougall sets out to learn why he is constantly getting injured as a runner and discovers a group of Indians in Mexico who can run incredible distances without shoes or sandals. The author concludes that running barefoot is the key to staying uninjured, and that virtually anyone can run marathon distances or more. Reading this book, it’s hard not to conclude that the only thing standing between you and a successful showing at Leadville, a 100-mile race in the mountains of Colorado, is the wrong pair of shoes. And it’s not surprising that barefoot running has trended way up since the book’s publication in 2009.

A major issue with actually running barefoot is that in most places, running around without shoes is a recipe for glass in your foot, or worse. Fortunately, people’s desire to run barefoot did not go unnoticed by the market, and barefoot or minimalist running shoes, such as Vibram FiveFingers and Nike’s Free, have abounded. Marketing materials for these shoes imply health benefits, including stronger foot and leg muscles and fewer running injuries. (Vibram, however, mentions on its website that the shoes might not be appropriate for over-pronators. Runners over-pronate when their feet roll excessively inward, and they may benefit from a more supportive shoe.)

But recently, the bubble has started to burst, underscored most clearly by a legal settlement in May against Vibram for overstating the benefits. Keep reading