Sports are arguably some of the biggest money-making industries in the world right now. Names like Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, Asics and Brooks are household names, and are thought to be directly associated with performance. These companies manufacture everything from sports equipment to clothing, and the basic need for any athlete - shoes. They must know by now what the sale of our heavily-cushioned modern shoes is doing to athletes, especially runners. Barefoot and minimalist running are a healthier alternative to shod running, causing significantly fewer injuries related to running and even an improved overall lifestyle, and shoe manufacturers should try to avoid a negative image by assisting in the transition to a healthier form of running by educating the public on the effects of their products and giving advice for a healthy transition. 

In order to understand why the mainstream running shoes of today are causing more injuries, the origin of our species must first be considered. Around two million years ago, human ancestors’ brains grew greatly in size, and the only explanation behind such an integral part of evolutionary development is the consumption of the meat of other animals (McDougall). The problem with this scenario, however, is that edged weapons would not be created until two hundred thousand years ago, so common sense dictates that somehow our ancestors were able to hunt and kill prey without weapons. They had no significant killing assets, very unlike many of the mammals around them which had claws, fangs, and strength, therefore the only possible way that our ancestors could have hunted successfully at this time would be to literally run their prey to death (McDougall). Their endurance was the one thing that gave the ancestors an edge in a hostile environment. While their prey may have been quicker over short distances, they could outlast them by tracking them for dozens of miles. Extreme endurance was something that was unique to our ancestors, and still is to us. 

There is no way that they could have done this alone, because endurance of an individual is of no use to an entire tribe. They had to have run in packs, where everyone could be a part of the hunt - elders, women and children all included. The hunters could not feasibly chase prey for nearly fifty miles at times and then bring it all the way back to the rest of the tribe. If they traveled together, the elders present could lend the younger ones their knowledge of the hunt. Evidence today has shown that even some of those up to fifty and even sixty years old can still match the running pace that they would have had when they were only nineteen years old (Lovett). The fact that the ability to run stays with humans throughout the course of their lives, even as they grow old, goes to show that our natural advantage in this world is our ability to run. Our natural predisposition to run is why running was the very first competitive sport to be created, and why we still use it as a measure of fitness even to this day. We have known how to do it from the very beginning, long before the first running shoes were created. It is a genetic disposition that has stayed with us since the very beginning.

Running shoes, and subsequently shod running, or running with shoes, rose to prominence in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and with it came the rise of recreational sports. Trainers, or shoes specially designed for distance running, were made with the idea to ease the impact of the strenuous activity on the feet and legs and therefore prevent injury (Clarke). Ever since then, we have been finding new ways to cushion and supplement our shoes to supposedly make them safer for use and minimize impact. Unfortunately, higher levels of cushioning in trainers only increased the risk of injury, as a 2015 study pointed out, “... the investigators found highly cushioned shoes result in a significantly higher vertical average load rate and vertical instantaneous loading rate, both of which have been associated with overuse injuries” (Helming). Basically, we take one step forward and two steps back when we use higher levels of cushioning in our shoes. We have even tried created numerous numbers of gels and polymers, as well as tried inserting a spring and even microchips into the soles of shoes to replace increased cushioning. Unfortunately, these efforts have hardly been successful. Esteemed runner and author Christopher McDougall points out that no modern-day invention has successfully slowed down the rate of injury. In fact all of the new advanced cushioning techniques have seen the injury rate increase over the past five to six years (9). It seems that the shoe companies make it very easy for people, and especially runners, to get trapped into a cycle of repeated injury. For example, when someone gets their first injury due to running, a common response from shoe experts is to purchase a shoe with a higher level of cushioning, something that seems would be a logical suggestion when it really is not. While an newly increased level of cushioning may seem to protect you for a short duration, it inevitably leads back to injury. This leaves many people in a strenuous cycle of injury and monetary expense coming back to the same store to buy more and more pairs of running shoes. It seems that any effort made by stores that sell running apparel to minimize risk only does the opposite in the long run. No concrete evidence of this exists yet, because it is unlikely that stores would want to disclose such information that would most likely hurt their business. Because of this, there is no indication that this cycle will stop any time soon. It has become all too common for runners to become injured, as a point has been reached where “up to eight out of every ten runners are hurt every year,” (McDougall 9). We should have never reached a point where getting injured is a matter of when and not if, and a switch away from heavily cushioned shoes can turn this trend around.

The injuries themselves are due to the strong influence of the weight and shape of a shoe on a person’s running form, particularly their strike pattern. The primary source of the problem comes from the heel of the shoe. It is often where the most of the weight in the shoe is present and as a result, “…running shoes are likely to cause the feet to land heel-first, sending severe shocks up the leg and into the rest of the body,” (Bajic 10). The heel is not meant to absorb that kind of impact alone, and when it does - what is called a heel strike - the load is spread irregularly throughout the body. Instead it is meant to be handled evenly by the extensive network of tissues and ligaments that begins at the whole base of the foot, and when this happens it is called a midfoot strike. The mid foot strike is the way that all people are naturally predisposed to strike the ground, and it causes significantly fewer injuries than heel striking. The visual differences between the two strike methods are easily spotted (see Fig 1.):

Fig. 1. A Comparison between a heel strike and a mid-foot strike. Proper Running Posture. Digital image. Midlife Running. N.p., 2016. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.

Shod running, in a way, can be comparable to smoking cigarettes. One, two or even ten cigarettes will not hurt you significantly, but over time the damage will build up and it becomes a serious issue. The same goes for running with a bad stride, which could include striking the ground with the heel rather than the whole foot. A few miles won’t damage anything, but over time as they build up, they will start to take their toll (Bajic 10). Injuries, such as runner's’ knee, and shin splints, are common ailments that occur as a result of heel striking, and can lead to much more serious health issues. For instance, someone who does not take care of a shin splint can easily find themselves with a stress fracture in their leg, which can remove them from running for weeks and even months. If this destructive running form can be eliminated through the transition to barefoot running, it is highly likely that the number of running-related injuries will fall. 

If we wish to live injury-free in the long term, the simple answer is barefoot and minimalist running. We must trust our bodies’ natural abilities to protect themselves. As discussed previously, human's’ feet are designed naturally to run barefoot, or without shoes. A close relative, minimalist running, is defined as “any running that includes any footwear that lacks high-cushioned heels, stiff soles and arch support”(Clarke) or basically a shoe or sandal with only enough padding to protect from stray shards of glass and gum while offering no real cushioning. An experiment was conducted to see what barefoot running would look like in people who had run shod their entire lives. When barefoot, even people who have been running shod their whole lives, “have greater hip, knee and ankle angles when running barefoot,” (Francis et al 1). This can lead to greater speeds and are more conducive to a natural running form and a midfoot strike. Another study found that people actually land softer when they have less cushioning. When they have large amounts of cushioning, people were lured into a false sense of security and were more likely to slam their feet into the ground while running (Helming). This contributes to the higher amount of impact stresses that are imposed on the body when running with cushioned shoes. 

For further proof that barefoot and minimalist running are the most effective way to run, one may need to look no further than the Raramuri - more commonly known as the Tarahumara - people. This tribe, indigenous to the Copper Canyons of Mexico, has been described as, “the healthiest and most serene people on Earth, and the greatest runners of all time” (McDougall 4). They have earned that praise. The secrets of this tribe were spoken mostly as rumors in their native home of Mexico. One historian even claimed that a Tarahumaran champion had run 435 miles in a single trip, which is roughly equivalent to starting a jog in New York City and ending it in the proximity of Detroit, Michigan. Only recently were these people brought into the eye of the public, thanks to runner and author Christopher McDougall. McDougall was a recreational runner that was consistently plagued by injury, to the point where he was ready to give up, until he heard a rumor of the existence of a tribe of super-runners down in Mexico. With patience, he found the tribe and began to train with them and learn about their ways.   

What McDougall had discovered was more than just a way of running. It was how that ancient way of running affected the lifestyle, culture, and health of every member of the tribe. He stated that, “The Tarahumara had created a nearly perfect society, free of all of the vices and disease of our modern world” (McDougall 15). This included crime, violence, heart disease and even cancer, among many other things. For some time they lived in total isolation and peace. Whenever a danger presented itself, they disappeared further into the labyrinth of rock that they called home, and, through this method, escaped conquistadors, rough riders and even drug cartels (McDougall 30). This isolation played a major part in how their running style would remain the same, and true to more ancient times. What fascinated him the most about these people was their choice of simple sandals as running shoes, which most closely resembles minimalist running. The sandal merely served as a thin barrier between the skin and jagged rocks that they traversed over every day. Through their advice and training, McDougall was able to transform himself as a runner and as a person. He impressively went from barely being able to complete five miles, to completing an ultramarathon of one hundred.

The Tarahumara are the best example of what we could be like as athletes, if we made the simple decision to put away our trainers. They are not the only ones however that are an example of how shoes have hurt us. Take for instance, any given distance runner from Africa. Most likely they grew up not being able to afford the luxury of shoes, and it allowed them to take advantage of all that a natural running form would provide (Clarke). The dominance of African runners can be seen in the Olympics records, where in every event over eight hundred meters, the record is held by someone from either Kenya or Ethiopia. They show an overwhelming statistical dominance in the event, having won a lion’s share of the medals in distance events (IAAF). Their preeminence in the sport is due largely to one difference that they have from those in first-world countries, and that difference is a lack cushioned shoes. 

This is not to say that barefoot running does not come with its own unique set of dangers and there are those who believe that the benefits outweigh the risk, but they fail to see the big picture. It is true that it can be a risky transition to undergo, as one study noted, “[Barefoot running] corresponds to a running style that led to increased muscle activation and impact accelerations and thereby to a potentially higher risk of injury compared to running shod,” (Lucas-Cuevas et al 2). Even McDougall warns against it, “Tinkering with a new gait can suddenly load the heel and Achilles with unaccustomed stress and bring on a fresh batch of injuries,” (13). If not handled in a very careful manner, the consequences can indeed be severe. However, if done correctly the transition can be very rewarding. It would mean greatly diminishing your chance to ever get injured again, and saving you money in the process. It is advised that the transition takes place over several months in order to slowly accustom your body to the new sensations and load requirements associated with increasingly lower amounts of cushioning. Anyone who wants to try it should seek professional advice and planning to ensure safety (McDougall). Going the extra distance to ensure that the transition is effective will be worth it in the long run.

On the part of the companies, they could be the start of a worldwide movement. They have the power to reverse the problems that they have caused for so many over the years. They have unknowingly forced too many people into a nearly inescapable cycle of injury, but they can acknowledge the problem and end it. A gradual decrease in the amount of cushioning put into the average shoe would be a major step towards setting people on the path to a more healthy lifestyle. The companies could even advertise that their new research supports less cushioning, so that they can still make money off of making their shoes healthier. To make certain that nobody attempted the transition, the companies would sponsor clinics with the goal of educating the public on how to convert safely. Perhaps along with the health benefits to come with barefoot and minimalist running, there could be a possible change in overall lifestyle. Society could begin to gain some of the benefits that the Tarahumara and others have long possessed by living the way that they do. A total reversion to the slightly primitive ways of the Tarahumara is not ideal, but perhaps there is still much we can learn from them if we can find a good medium or compromise. An idea would be to construct trails that would be more conducive to barefoot running, and training lower education sports coaches in how to help their athletes develop and retain a natural running form.

Shod running has pushed us away from our roots as humans, but we are not yet to the point of no return. Switching to barefoot running, if done correctly, can be a huge benefit to physical health. People like the Tarahumara can teach us more than we know, if they are allowed, by the big corporations that may stand to lose business from what they have to say, to speak up. Barefoot running already has a minor following, and that following is growing slowly but surely all around the world. Generations of runners have grown up running shod, and not knowing how bad it can be. The more of those people that join the movement, the louder the case can be made for all of its benefits and the sooner we individually and as a general population can reap the rewards. 
