My first test of my year without metrics is done and the tl;dr for this race is a 20 minute improvement over last year's time at 6:24 vs 6:44 in 2018. I also did roughly 20/31 of the miles unshod, ditching my trusty Luna Origens after the first 11 miles due to slipping around underfoot from humidity.

The course is a 25k loop done twice and I noticed on that first lap that tecent rains had created a few spots of mud and lots of tacky dirt and I couldn't pass up the opportunity. There was also about 3-4 miles of fairly rough gravel I wasn't looking forward to but I figured suffering through that was worth it for the rest of the tactile experience.


Curiously enough, those rough gravel...

The BRS is delighted to be supporting Anna McNuff in her incredible #BarefootBritain challenge, in which she will attempt to run 100 marathons along the length of Britain, completely barefoot! Anna will encounter every kind of terrain - sand and rocks, marshes and woods, uplands and lowlands, highways and byways – taking it all in her unshod stride. If ever a challenge existed to prove to the world that barefoot is best, this is it!

We can all help her along the way. Below is a message from the #BarefootBritain team that explains how…

“It's so good to hear from fellow Barefoot runners, I know Anna loves the running community and will be so happy that fellow barefoot warriors are behind her.

There are lots of ways you can get involved - you can sign up to run alongside her, take a look at the calendar...

LAKE PLACID — Most people will never run a marathon, or even a half marathon. But one Capital Region man ran a half marathon on Sunday while wearing no shoes.

Bill Hoffman finished the Lake Placid Half Marathon running barefoot. Hoffman finished the 13.1-mile race 42nd overall in 1 hour, 40 minutes and 55.9 seconds. The Clifton Park resident said he couldn’t run until less than a decade ago, but now that he goes without shoes, he has finished dozens of ultra marathons. To continue reading, please visit......

From Dr. Mark Cucuzzella:

Fun to be on the my friend Floris Gierman’s show The Extramilest.

See story we did on Floris a couple years back on Getting Fast by Running Slow: http://naturalrunningcenter.com/2017/08/20/floris-gierman-aka-florrest-gump-fast-running-slow/ Tune into his amazing show.

Here is our episode. Check out the extensive show notes and links. Thanks Floris for the privilege!: https://extramilest.com/blog/mark-cucuzzella/...