Pictures of the 2nd edition of the International Barefoot Trophy

2nd edition of the International Barefoot Trophy
By KTR


One year ago I learnt from the news about a barefoot race that had been held somewhere not far away from my hometown, Valencia, Spain.
It turns out that a barefoot enthusiast living in the small town of Segorbe, Spain, had organized a 10 km race that was to be run exclusively barefoot, and this was something that I could not let escape a second time. There's no other race like this in Spain, and —correct me if I'm wrong— I'd dare to say there's probably anything like this elsewhere. It's a whole weekend devoted to barefootedness in a country where barefootedness is not really that popular, with talks about the benefits of barefoot walking and running, a small running gear fair, contests, etc.
The event included three different races on Sunday morning: a 500-meter, junior race for under-16s, a non-competitive 6.6 km march and a competitive 10 on a 3.3 km circuit around and across Segorbe. You can check the route here and my stats here: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1398596345

What can I say? It was truly exciting. We were just about 80 runners for the 10k, plus 20 more for the march. It doesn't sound like we were too many, right? BUT! We were all barefoot!
Much to my surprise, most of the runners were veterans (above 39 yo), and only 9 of us were in the "Absolute" category (this is, between 16 and 39 yo). That also means that I managed to get into the Top10 of the "Absolute" category becasue... well... I finished in the 9th place :hilarious:

Here you are a few pics, as well as a link to a Google Photos album another runner kindly shared.
https://goo.gl/photos/RLMdeFn7DFvSjTBw6

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Did you notice something? Look at the pics in the shared album and tell me: can you spot any single runner that is not smiling?

Finally, according to the official stats, I completed the race in 59'35" @ 5:57 min/km, which for me is quite a nice time for a 10k!

Cheers!
 
KTR
[I]"Transition?" What do you mean "transition?" [/I] When I was a kid I used to hate sports, and specially running, but a couple o years ago my body startd to send me signs that I should start moving. Like "come on, mate, do [I]something[/I]." I...
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So cool. I've mirrored it to the home page. Thanks for sharing!
 
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So cool. I've mirrored it to the home page. Thanks for sharing!
My pleasure :)

Yes, very cool!

Was it a different experience from other races "sound wise"? Less stomping? More silent?

It was amazingly silent! :D
Actually, I commented on that with a fellow runner a few hundreds of meters after the start.
 
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Nothing like that around here either.
I am wondering, why there seems to be much more barefoot races in Europe than here in the States.
I think it goes along with them being much more accepting of nudity.
Well he did mention "in a country where barefootedness is not really that popular" so seems this isn't really the norm there either. But perhaps not quite a shunned as it is here. I have no experience whatsoever with other countries so can't say for sure.
 
I'd say nudity is not the same as barefootedness. Even in the rare event of finding someone who walks around without clothes on they are likely to be shod. I was living near Barcelona for some time and it was easy to get across a man who liked to walk naked —except for the fact he always wore socks and shoes.
 
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Wow! I'd love to fly up and participate in this great event some day!
 
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