Naked Foot 5k Promotes Barefoot Running as Training Tool

Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia brought barefoot running to center stage after winning the 1960 Olympic marathon in Rome without wearing shoes. Bikila says shoes hurt his feet so opted to run in an untraditional way. Fast forward 50 years and barefoot running is making headlines again in the wake of the creators of the Naked Foot 5k. Participants who sign up for this race are free to run sans shoes on the barefoot friendly course.

But running with naked feet isn’t a requirement. Husband and wife team Scott and Lauren Jones created the event as a way to showcase running barefoot as a training tool. “We barefoot run, but not all the time,” says Lauren Jones. She and her husband, both fitness nuts, suggest people experiment with the running technique but say they didn’t start the event as a way to say running barefoot is for everyone.

“The race also about the idea of donating shoes to Soles4Souls,” reveals Jones. Soles4Souls is a Nashville-based charity that collects and delivers shoes to people in need all over the world. Participants are invited to donate gently used shoes at the event. The Naked Foot 5k also partners with a local charity in each of the ten cities they are currently launched in. Proceeds from Denver’s race will benefit a local non-profit, Kids Running America. The organization designs programs to help kids get active. “We are passionate about getting people of all ages outside, moving, and having some fun,” says Jones. The bottom of your feet may be dirty, but at least they won’t smell bad! Leave the shoes at home and get out to run the next Naked Foot 5k.

*To register visit: https://www.thenakedfoot5k.com/ The race is free to kids 12 and under

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