Sports
Barefoot Runners Race in Run, Walk, BOOM!!! 1-Mile, 5K Events
"It's the way humans were made to run," says Alan Adler of West Bloomfield, who competed Saturday in Huntington Woods.
Alan Adler of West Bloomfield ran Saturday in the Run, Walk, BOOM!!! 5K race in Huntington Woods – without shoes.
"It's the lightest way to run," said Adler, who recently was featured in The Wall Street Journal for his choice of footwear, or lack thereof. "Your joints take approximately 50 percent less shock than in shoes. It's the way humans were made to run."
Adler said critics often counter that people need shoes because they weren't intended to run on man-made surfaces such as pavement, but he said streets are much more forgiving than many kinds of natural terrain.
Adler said he's never stepped on a stone, piece of glass or any other injurious object during his barefoot running.
"Proponents of barefoot running say it encourages landing on the midfoot or forefoot instead of the heel, lowering the chance of getting hurt," according to The Wall Street Journal. "The Barefoot Runners Society says its membership has grown by about 1,500 each year since it was founded in 2009. The group has roughly 5,000 members internationally."
Is the trend catching on closer to home?
It's hard to say for sure, but Adler was joined in his barefoot bliss by a young runner who crossed the finish line in the Run, Walk, BOOM!!! 1-mile race.
[What do you think about barefoot running? Leave a comment!]
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