Cinderella Trail Run 10KA Newbie’s First Trail RaceBy Barefoot TerryAugust14, 2010 - It was a cool, misty, wet morning in the hills above Oakland, California. Costal Trail Runs was putting on a 10K, half marathon, marathon,and 50K ultra. The drive to Joaquin Miller Park had been without traffic (a rarity for the San Francisco Bay Area), and I arrived earlier than expected. I walked down to the registration area in my VFFs, got my number, hit the restrooms, and then wandered back to my truck to get out of the chill morning air. The temperature was about 56 degrees. Not terribly cold, but enough to chill someone in running shorts.Being an Eagle Scout, I consider myself fairly well versed on hiking trails, but this Saturday, I dared to try something new - a trail run. Not only that, I decided to run it barefoot.So, there I sat in my truck trying to keep warm. After about 15 minutes, I decided I was bored enough and headed back toward the starting area to...

2010 Leadville 100 Trail Race ReportBy Barefoot Ted McDonald
My fourth summer in a row visit to Leadville, Colorado and my third completion of the Leadville 100 Mile Trail Race...what an experience. Deep gratitude for good friends and a strong body.



Finished!
This year's race was to be my second attempt at running the entire course barefoot and with my own Luna Sandals. Two years ago, I started with sandals, but had to change into VFFs KSOs at the top of Hope Pass in order to complete the race due to horrible weather conditions. This year I was able to run the entire race with my sandals (see www.LunaSandals.com) and in bare feet...a pure joy fest....

I agree, Jason. I wonder if they would publish it. Hey, you may even get an offer to write for them on occasion!

Member Blog of the WeekMore thoughts on the "barefoot versus minimalist" shoes issue and the difficulty of abandoning an unfulfilled goalBy Last Place Jason
The last 17 days have been an interesting journey for me. First was the Burning River 100 Mile Endurance Run. One of my goals was to run the entire race barefoot. I made it to mile 33 before an especially gravelly section sabotaged my efforts. Fearing the slowed pace would slow my pace beyond the cutoff times, I ran the rest in huaraches. While it sucked not reaching that goal, I ended the race on a high note which stoked a competitive fire.

This past weekend, I ran the Fallsburg Marathon near my home in Michigan. I ran it sans shoes. The course was changed from last year, which I also ran barefoot. A long section of gravel road greatly slowed my pace, which significantly affected my time. Furthermore, the beating from the rougher-than-expected gravel limited my ability to run the trail sections with...