What type of person is attracted to barefoot running/vibram five fingers?

Actually I ran a 14:47 5k and a 1:58 800 in vibrams

Bet they couldn't break 20 in a 5k.

I did . . . in my 50s.

Adizer PR is the most minimalist I get and I do it because I like it. I admit that I am a bit of a minimalist fanatic and usually don't bring it up that much because I don't want to annoy people, but I believe in it. One friend listened to me!

My friend went beyond running in flats and now wears vibrams and she thinks she looks cool! She has always had really messed up feet and particular needs when it came to shoes and she was getting tired of this. She also doesn't want to spend hundreds of dollars on shoes. Oh, and she went from a 21 minute 5k to 18 minutes in just one year. She's 35.

I've seen one guy in Vibram's and he was, as others have said, kind of a muscular, metrosexual looking dude that was finishing in the middle of the pack (~1:40's) of a half marathon. That's the only time I've seen them.

There is another guy I know that is even slower that is all hyped up about the barefoot crazy after reading Born To Run and Chi Running. He's one of those holistic medicine guys that talks about auras and stuff.

On the fast end, I know a lot of talented runners that will do strides and/or some warm up/cool down stuff in grass barefoot.

This is all anecdotal and proves nothing. Just my experience. My guess is if there really were an advantage to barefoot or shoes, then all the pros would do one or the other. Since there have been Olympic champions that do both, I'm going to assume it doesn't make any performance advantage, but can be good or bad depending on the runner.

i just started barefoot running relatively recently.

i feel it in the ankle region, below the calves but above the achilles tendon. never felt anything in that region before back when i wore shoes. i guess this means that i'm "strengthening the ankles", which i'm guessing might have a positive effect on my running.

but to answer your question about what type of person is attracted to barefoot ..... i'd say a strange, weird person.

I will agree with that and most want to be noticed. I saw this woman running down a cement path barefoot the other day and she had this dumb look on her face hoping people would notice her.

Free spirited individuals who do not want to be controlled by others.

Same type of person who will change their diet so they don't have to rely on prescriptions.

As someone stated earlier, people with an open mind.

Fudge Packers!

Ok, let us rephrase that. Who do you see at the olympics, world championships, NCAAs, Penn, Drake, Mt. SAC, Rieti, London Maraton, Berlin, Lausanne... running in Vibrams in their everyday training?

You both sound like most of the people I ask when I see them running barefoot or in five fingers. To me it sounds like you are simply regurgitating what was written in the book, "Born To Run"

I am not saying I agree or disagree. But it would be nice to get an unbiased, factual opinion (if possible) from someone who has run years in shoes, then years barefoot. Not someone who has jumped on the bandwagon in the last 9 months.

Yes, the entire and only reason the US declined in distance running at the world level was due to this running shoe craze created in the 60s.

Do you realize that you can use an argument such as this to "prove" these running shoes are great? US distance running times have been faster since the invention of modern running shoes, as have East African times since they started training in modern shoes. Geb even wears, gasp, orthotics!

I do some barefoot running as a part of cool-downs and strides. I run in minimal shoes when I do a track workout in spikes or very light weight flats. When I do tempo runs I use a heavier flat. Long runs, especially when I am tired or have to run on roads (all of those naturally made roads and sidewalks for my natural feet), are done in a modern day training shoe. I have learned through experience what works for me in regards to shoes and training to stay healthy. There are no secrets.

I don't care what Geb wears. I don't care what kind of people wear Vibrams either. I just care about what works for me. I've been a minimalist since 2007 and it has worked for me more than regular running shoes and 3 different pairs of orthotics. I'm not anti-big business or any of that. I've worn Nike/Adidas/Asics flats. The Nike Free 3.0 and Mayfly are two of my favorites and I definitely buy other name-brand apparel, watches, etc. I am smart about shopping, however. I went to try some Vibrams the other day, but they were out of my size thanks to the minimalism thing finally catching on, for better or worse. I thought I'd wait and order some in my size, but the next day I was walking through Wal-Mart and saw some aqua socks for $8. I've been running in those for about a month now and it sure beats paying $120.

The sort of person who's 53, former 32.20 guy, fed up with being restricted by knee and achilles niggles, who gets a tip from an international decathlete/physio/sales guy in a normal running shop that stocks mostly conventional stuff.

Now able to compete as unrestrictedly as in the old days, albeit slower, as you'd expect.

Combo of Nike Free 5.0 to being with, then 3.0, a good deal of barefoot on soft ground in the winter, and now trying out EVOs. (I'm now 18.00 for 5K, 86 for 1/2 mara).

Can't wear clunky boots any more, yukh.

jolly rodger wrote:

Ok, let us rephrase that. Who do you see at the olympics, world championships, NCAAs, Penn, Drake, Mt. SAC, Rieti, London Maraton, Berlin, Lausanne... running in Vibrams in their everyday training?

Change "running in Vibrams" to "running barefoot" and we can start a long list.

txRUNNERgirl wrote:

I was walking through Wal-Mart

There's a shocker.

the same type of people that do ultra's, the same type of runnes that wear a feul belt and/or cambel back.

trend followers- that's it.

competative runners have been wearing light weight trainers and hitting the track with spikes/racing flats since the beginning of the modern running era. nothing new here.

We need the old school trainers. The barefoot thing is too hippy, but a good pair of flats is blue collar. It also helps to grow a mustache.

Out.

I just wrote this on the other post about barefoot running:

After reading both the current posts on this subject, I would bet that this is a fad that will catch on - then go the extreme - we will start to hear how some folks got injured, some folks felt improvement - We will then feel that barefoot running (or running in five fingers) in moderation is a component to healthy running, but not the 'end all'.

Fact Finder wrote:

I just wrote this on the other post about barefoot running:

After reading both the current posts on this subject, I would bet that this is a fad that will catch on - then go the extreme - we will start to hear how some folks got injured, some folks felt improvement - We will then feel that barefoot running (or running in five fingers) in moderation is a component to healthy running, but not the 'end all'.

You should read through a thread before posting. You won't look so stupid that way.