I remember the days when the air was crisp, the grass and the ground below it still damp, and the joyous cheers of seven to thirteen year olds filled the air. The anticipation to ‘get set’ and ‘go’ would make your heart pound in your little chest.

This was the annual school athletics challenge, where learners were divided into colour teams and raced, jumped and sang to earn the most points to win the cup. However, the seriousness of this ‘competition’ was limited only to the fear, excitement and competitiveness of some kids, the barefoot manner in which everything took place was an example of this. Yes, before fancy ‘extra shock-absorbent heel pieces’ and ‘ventilation pores for added this and that’, most of us were very happy to run barefoot.

Running barefoot is not only true for primary school pupils, but also for famous runners like Abebe Bikila- the greatest Olympic marathoner of all time- England’s Bruce Tulloh, Charlie Robbins and South African runner, Zola Budd. In the light of this, studies have shown that running barefoot is in actual fact better than running with shoes – even the high-tech kind.

There have been two reasons to explain why running with shoes should not be your first choice – firstly, Michael Warburton, Australian physical therapist and marathoner notes, the weight of your shoes, even if they are just a few hundred grams, are worse than a few extra kilos around your waist. The extra weight on your feet has a high energy cost and will ultimately make the runner less efficient. The problem is that when people buy running shoes, they do not consider what will make them more efficient, but rather the comfort and protection from harmful objects.

Secondly, many studies have shown that running with shoes and running without them, changes how one lands on their feet, thus having an effect on shock-absorption, impact force, loading rate and joint angles.

All the stress fractures and strains of runners happen inside the body, and a medical team needs to take measurements inside the body to learn exactly what is happening. The doctors will literally drill into the shin bone to obtain accurate results. These experiments will show little change in shock absorption or motion control in shod (shoe-wearing) versus unclad feet. This makes one wonder what running shoes actually do for us. The truth is that shoes create a deceptive illusion when we run.

When you run barefoot, your body precisely engages your vision, brain, soles of the feet, and all the supporting structures of your legs and feet, such as muscles, bones and tendons. This enables you to estimate all the pressures and forces while running.

On the other hand, running with shoes or any other type of sole, your body loses reaction time drastically, because shoes cause what is known as ‘the perceptual illusion’ of running shoes. 

“Most people think barefoot running is dangerous and hurts,” Daniel Lieberman, a professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University said, “but you can actually run barefoot on the world’s hardest surfaces without the slightest discomfort and pain…It might be less injurious than the way some people run in shoes”.

The reason for this is the foot strike – the way runners come down on their feet. People who run with shoes tend to have a heel strike (land heel first) while barefoot runners land more towards the middle or the front of the foot. “People who don’t wear shoes when they run have an astonishingly different strike,” Lieberman explains.

There is no need to start worrying about your job at the shoe store, though. It is very clear that all runners won’t be giving up shoes anytime soon. Many podiatrists also think it is dangerous to run barefoot, but then again, what does not kill you only makes you stronger.

People spend a lot of time in shoes and this weakens the structures of the feet and legs. To correct this, one can walk around barefoot when ever possible – in the house, doing simple foot strengthening exercises or running barefoot a few kilometres a week on safe surfaces. Just remember to put your shoes back on when you start practising fiercely, because when your feet are accustomed to shoes, switching to barefoot can have very harmful consequences.

There exists some disagreement amongst impact forces. Some studies show that running barefoot increases the impact forces while others suggest a reduction, particularly during first impact. The conclusion generally states that when one runs barefoot and lands on the forefoot, the loading rate and impact force is lower, but not when running barefoot and not landing completely on the forefoot. In theory, the higher the impact, the higher the risk of injury, therefore some studies suggest that running barefoot reduces injury risk.

Running barefoot is not as crazy as it seems, there has been a big movement toward going footloose. Mother Nature has allowed us to run barefoot - we have been doing so for thousands of years - why stop now? We have had plenty of time to get really good at walking, running and climbing, from the soles of our feet to the top of the brain.

Athlete’s foot

Athlete's foot causes scaling, flaking, and itching of the affected skin. Blisters and cracked skin may also occur, leading to exposed raw tissue, pain, swelling, and inflammation. The fungus that causes athlete's foot can live on shower floors, wet towels, as well as footwear, and can spread from person to person from shared contact with showers, towels, et cetera.

Hygiene therefore plays an important role in managing an athlete's foot infection. Since fungi thrives in moist environments, keeping feet and footwear as dry as possible, and avoiding sharing towels, et cetera, helps with the prevention of primary infection. Athlete’s foot is treatable, but prevention is always better than cure. Keep your footwear clean and dry, and if you decide to give shoes the boot, take special precaution when walking on unhygienic surfaces.

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