Issy-les-Moulineaux (Paris), May 1 2016 - 15 enthusiastic participants assembled at the Suzanne Lenglen track. Beautiful morning for once, not like the horrific weather conditions for IBRD 2015 ! IBRD 2016 was my sixth time hosting the event since the first time in May 2011.
Arriving at 9am, I was a bit concerned when I only saw a couple of people waiting for me, but soon enough all the slowpokes were seated in the bleachers, ready to receive the barefoot gospel. Some familiar faces, quite a few new ones, this year. I started with a brief introduction, and explained the two main activities for the morning - barefoot training, then TrailBall.
I then asked everyone to kick off their shoes if necessary and I had everyone line up on the track in front of the GoPro for the ritual group photo and shot of everyone taking off barefoot. The barefoot sensation never ceases to surprise participants. There's never any mention of cold, but lots of folks notice the rough feeling of the rubberized track, which worries some. That's why I always limit runners to two laps - plenty far to get the idea, short enough where they won't be taking home any painful souvenirs!
Once I corralled all the runners, it was time for some explanations. After lining up all the participants along the edge of the track I demonstrated the different aspects of barefoot running, starting with one "fly-by" wearing my old New Balance padded shoes. Its always striking how hard it is to heel-strike once you're set up to manage a mid-foot stride. The three components of barefoot running are: increased stride frequency; shorter stride amplitude (not reaching far in front of the hips) and a mid-foot strike pattern. Some folks already knew the pitch, and where excused from this part of the animation. I like to give everyone total freedom to participate as they wish.
Then it was time for the exercises. To demonstrate the important role of the ankles, the incredible powers of the arches and the fun of following a short obstacle course, I lay out a short curvy itinerary on the track with plastic cups. A bit further along, I have someone scatter the cardboard "glass shards". First I run the course myself to show the way - slalom between the cups, and don't step on the glass! Next each runner runs the course, one at a time with a safe distance between each person. I have them loop back via the top of the bleachers, which adds some rough pavement, steps and a nice view to the exercice. GoPro skimming along just above the ground, I follow along and shout encouragements. When I announce the end of the session, a couple of participants sneak in one more lap, just for the fun of it ;-)
Then it was time to put our shoes back on for everyone not used to running barefoot. We don't want folks to ask more of their feet than they can handle, which isn't much, for "neophyte feet"! It would be a shame if anyone brought home blisters as a souvenir from their first barefoot running experience! Two runners, both habitual barefoot runners, stayed barefoot as we embarked on a big lap of the park Suzanne Lenglen, which involves various types of trails, streets, stairs, etc. Not all of it is very barefoot-friendly - parts are covered with big chunks of rough tree bark... But no complaints (the two had been warned). When we arrived at a steep descent, I showed he group how to slalom and bend their knees to retain control and avoid heel striking when things go downhill. I was delighted to note that some of the minimalist runners, mostly in Vibrams, were helping me out explaining the technique to the newbies!
The last activity for the morning was a TrailBall session. I laced up my huaraches to play this mashup of trail running and soccer. Just outside of the stadium, I drew four circles on the ground with chalk - these were the start/finish "line" for participants. The idea is to have each ad hoc team start and end the TrailBall session together. I had each player place their foot on their TrailBall as they awaited instructions. That's also the position they would have to adopt when they arrived flat out after the last sprint, in a little while... And off we went, for a second lap of the park, this time in the other direction. The difficulties came up fast and furious - other walkers and runners, a nice bit of singletrack that climbs and descends and tolerates no mistakes - a total blast, and one heck of a workout for each player!
After a few minutes flat out, we pulled up in a part of the park well suited to TrailBall Golf, which is - you guessed it - a series of strikes by each team, in turn, to drive the ball from point A to point B. Starting from my fetish cherry tree, we shoot for an outdoor basketball goal whose two legs await at a distance of about a hundred meters. Pretty soon everyone was having such a blast that nobody seemed to be keeping track of the score anymore ;-)
After a second hole played, it was time to sprint back to the starting line erm circle. A short wait to let some women and their young children scurry to safety, and we were off, careening wildly across a field, then up a loooong alley with lots of obstacles along the sides, all intent on capturing and deviating the trajectory of each team's TrailBall. The whole distance was no more than three hundred meters, but it seemed like a dang kilometer before the circles came into view. All the teams arrived practically at the same time, and the best-organised team won the contest, managing to stop the ball inside a circle with both one foot each on the ball.
A big thanks to all the participants who shared their enthusiasm with us all morning, and who got up really early on a Sunday morning just to hang out with us. We hope to see folks again really soon!
Christian
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