306 people run a half marathon totally barefoot

Granted, one needs thicker skin to go barefoot. Our boys run over shell - shell gets crushed. Skin doesn't perforate.

half of them run slower than 11:00 pace. have fun crushing shells douchetits

Anand wrote:

Granted, one needs thicker skin to go barefoot. Our boys run over shell - shell gets crushed. Skin doesn't perforate.

this is true. and its why i wear shoes. much easier that way

wilfredo wrote:

Ok so Anand is just trolling. perhaps 2/10 was not generous enough.

I may have to revise my judgment, though I think the "Let's Just End the Heel Strike Debate Right Now" thread may have reset the bar for troll threads.

What's the big deal? So most of them ran at a pace a competitive walker would "walk" at, not surprised at all about the "no injuries" claim.

If they already walk barefoot all their lives, then it's going to take more than a half marathon at a "wogger's" pace to cause a significant injury.

Likewise you can probably get 306 Africans to "run" those times and have close to a zero injury rate.

The real trick is to get 306 Americans and see what happens.

Ha, ha, the other half ran faster. That gladdens the optimist in me. Next year around, everyone will catch up. Wanna see?

Easy classof89, easy. We are talking sport here. And lets be sportive. Me not conducting a class in world economics. These guys haven't walked all life barefoot. I stated earlier. Many didn't take off their shoes till marathon day. Others have. Not because they couldn't afford shoes. Because they say they are more comfortable without them. But trainers in India insist on shoes. Rather they did. Till 12 December. Now they are convinced barefoot is another way to run. Who know for sure? Not better, not worse. Like there are different strokes - Butterfly, breast... If you run shod, well done. He runs barefoot, good job. Why mock? Unless you are..er..... Abebe Bikila di it. Siraj Gena did it. They had the guts in them. Right? Now these boys have done it. Next year they will better upon it. Bet.

Anand wrote:

There were 155 finishers within 2.5 hours

What happened to the rest - still walking barefoot?

You're probably just a troll, but this is too priceless to ignore anyway.Did Pheidippedes actually do it barefoot, or did he wear some sort of sandals or other foot covering? Where's your proof?Do your runners also run the race in combat gear, as he may presumably have been wearing?

Anand wrote:

You may better call it the NYC 21.1 km race. A genuine 'Marathon' needs to be run the way Pheidippedes did (if his memory is what you are commemorating); not only emulating his distance, but also his mode - BAREFOOT. One may as well wear skates.

Anand wrote:

Easy classof89, easy. We are talking sport here. And lets be sportive. Me not conducting a class in world economics. These guys haven't walked all life barefoot. I stated earlier. Many didn't take off their shoes till marathon day. Others have. Not because they couldn't afford shoes. Because they say they are more comfortable without them. But trainers in India insist on shoes. Rather they did. Till 12 December. Now they are convinced barefoot is another way to run. Who know for sure? Not better, not worse. Like there are different strokes - Butterfly, breast... If you run shod, well done. He runs barefoot, good job. Why mock? Unless you are..er..... Abebe Bikila di it. Siraj Gena did it. They had the guts in them. Right? Now these boys have done it. Next year they will better upon it. Bet.

If you gave 306 poor Indians some rupees, you could get them to do HM in stilettos. You don't see people in India running around barefoot except for the dirt poor.

As Renato has pointed out, the difference between Kenyans and American barefoot cultists is that the Kenyans are intelligent enough to run in shoes when they can afford them.

Wouldn't the world record for a barefoot marathon be Bikila's 2:15:16?

And these Indians were sensible enough to take off their shoes when given an opportunity to run barefoot, which their trainers were refusing all along. You anytime smarter than Vin Lananna? Ask Lananna what his boys come and tell him

Did Pheidippedes actually do it barefoot, or did he wear some sort of sandals or other foot covering? Where's your proof?

This question shows Engineer, that you have run marathons, if at all, only in the wrong places. Do you know where it all originated? In Greece. From Marathon battlefield to Athens. If and when you run this original classic route, you will see a statue of Pheidippedes on the way. Go near it with a camera. Don't assume and presume things. Take a snap of his feet and show it to all ye heel-strikers.

He also has a scabbard hanging from his hip. Not a bad idea to run with one in future. May be of use if you pass by.

Do master the basics of a marathon run first,get the facts straight, before attempting eloquence.

1. Statues do not prove historical facts. I suppose you believe Abe Lincoln was a giant because his statue is so large?

2. I don't believe that any of these kids ran 1:10:03, and I'm not entirely sure they even ran 21.1 kilometers. Why didn't you just have them run an already existing road race? You have no official times, no results to post, no nothing.

In fact, they did make those times. We gave out 10 prizes followed by 90 consolations, thereby 1 in 3 was rewarded. The top ten: First 1:10:03; Second 1:10:10; Third 1:10:23; Fourth 1:10:52; Fifth 1:11:05; Sixth 1:12:47; Seventh 1:12:51; Eigth 1:13:18; Ninth 1:14:12; Tenth 1:14:23.

If you say all this wasn't put up in the website, you carry a point. It was a very rush-rush operation. I returned from Athens after Athens Classic 0n 31 October, where I had seen the statue of Pheidippedes, and said, oh, this is the way it is to be done. Then it was a mighty task convincing coaches to allow their boys take off the shoes (though the boys themselves were exuberant).

There wasn't a single road race in the world that has a separate category for 'barefoot runners' and so we decided to hold one ourselves on 12 December, less than 45 days away. Finally on race day we had more than 60 officials supervising 306 boys, plus two independent observers as mandated by Guinness World Records. Entire evidence including the last lap score card had been forwarded to GWR, and their certificate can be found at our FB page

www.facebook.com/barefootrunnersindia

When I told about this race to Dan Lieberman, Barefoot Ted and Rick, each one of them wanted to come and run, but it was rather late in the day. All of them will come next year, when this will be much elaborately organised. Minimum 1000 barefoot runners, who will be veterans compared to these boys, who are mainly college students.

Give me a couple of months more, before the website will be fully revamped. Currently I am out and will return only by mid April after my North Pole marathon. Soon thereafter, will start in real earnest the preparations for Navi Mumbai Barefoot half Marathon - 2011.

Everyone is welcome to come and run (barefoot, of course). Keep tuned in.

If you don't believe in statues and depictions, do you believe Christ was crucified? I believe Lord Krishna sat on a chariot and preached the Bhagvad Gita, for that is what I have seen and heard from childhood. And as for scale models, do you dispute Lincoln sported a beard?

Are you mentally disabled? My point was not there can NEVER be an accurate depiction of life in art, only that a statue of someone proves nothing about what actually occurred in history. You have no idea whether Pheidippides wore sandals or not.

And who verified that your course was the proper distance?

I say, you are so confused, you cannot recognise your own mirror image. I am only telling you that Pheidippides not wearing any footwear is as true as Lincoln sporting a beard. Both come to us as works of art. And if you want to verify that, go to Athens,or just log into Wikipedia.

And don't keep challenging me on the distance part. When skippers are convinced, I cant care less for fellers. Look at Guinness certificate on my page.

No listed results at all.

The youtube claims to show the leaders finishing. A 1:10 HM is roughly 5:20 pace. The leaders weren't running anything like that kind of pace when finishing. Those looked like a bunch of joggers "running" 8:00 and slower. Average is something like 11:00 pace (how many here would even call that "running"?) and the leaders didn't look like a whole lot faster than that, which is consistent with what we see from barefoot runners--really slow people.

I also have serious doubts about ANY group of college kids going out and running a half marathon on some kind of lark for the world record without training: Most wouldn't even finish a HM without regard to footwear without serious training.

It wouldn't surprise me if this was really a 10K and the times are what are claimed above.