Registered for my first 5K

BFGD

Barefooters
Nov 6, 2017
79
104
33
54
Barrington, RI
Just registered for my first 5K ever, coming in about a month. Never been in a "race" before and I am leery of being singled-out for bare feet.

I ran a "Tough Tiger" barefoot with my daughter for a school event a few years ago. About 2 miles with obstacles along the way. One person did comment on my bare feet. Only one comment is encouraging now that I think about it. But people can make such a big deal about barefoot running I guess I am concerned with possible reactions, attention, and so forth.

Great to be able to express these sentiments here though, and I feel a little better now that I have shared!

Hopefully will remember to update this thread after the race in April.
 
We'd love to have your race report and pictures too.

Don't worry about what people think or say. Once you've done this awhile, you'll learn to either tune them out or laugh with them about it. Really, onlookers can be quite funny. We have a long-going thread about this topic here: https://www.thebarefootrunners.org/threads/peoples-reactions-when-you-run.6322/ (Wow! It's already at 44 pages too!)

Here's an insane thread that will definitely make you laugh and give you the confidence you need: https://www.thebarefootrunners.org/threads/funny-lines-for-the-back-of-my-tee-shirt.5621/
 
Don't worry about it BFGD -just go and have fun!
I've done a couple of races (not many I know) and generally you might get the odd second glance from people and an occasional comment. I can honestly say though I've never had anything negative -normally people are either reasonably humorous or genuinely interested in how, why, wow, etc...
Enjoy the race & let us know how is goes...:barefoot:
 
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In my experience, most people won't say anything and most of those that do, will just make harmless comments like "you must be brave" or "I couldn't do that" or express their astonishment. A smaller number may be genuinely interested.
 
Finished my first official 5K race yesterday. I was a bit anxious, but excited, and my wife ran the race also. She passed me at about 2.5 miles on a hill and she greeted me at the finish. She is great on hills! Only one person spoke to me about about bare feet, and asked if I had read "Born to Run" (which I haven't, but I've definitely heard about it). I did get a lot of looks though, some curious, some confused.

It was cold, so I wore my SNOX socks to the starting line, and put them in my pockets about 10 minutes before we started. I had a sweatshirt but ran with it tied around my waist.

In spite of the cold, it was a GREAT first experience of running in a crowd. Looking forward to more! Might never have happened without being motivated here, so thanks to all barefooters here!

Officer Thomas Giunta
5K Memorial Road Race


Fall River, MA

Temp (F/C) 39/4

Time 26:39
Pace 8:34/mi
Date 4/8/18
Overall 180/697
M 137/319
M 40-49 33/75

Not a "picture person" myself, so this pic is courtesy of Racewire:

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Great job. Personally it takes guts to get out there unshod, but I agree with others in that a vast majority of people don't care/don't pay attention/are on their phones, etc. You ran a great time too! Well done.
 
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Great work and nice time for your first 5K! Careful: it gets addicting :)

Yesterday I would have killed for those warm, cozy temperatures. I was hoping to do my first unshod race of the season but it was 16F at the start here in MN. Of course, it being April the predicted high for Thursday is 60F. I'm watching yesterday's snowfall turn to steam on my street right now.
 
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Great job. Personally it takes guts to get out there unshod, but I agree with others in that a vast majority of people don't care/don't pay attention/are on their phones, etc. You ran a great time too! Well done.

My wife mentioned that while I was in front of her, I did get some notice from people along the route (mostly police directing runners). I didn't notice any of that though. Nice to know I did some barefoot representing!
 
Great work and nice time for your first 5K! Careful: it gets addicting :)

Yesterday I would have killed for those warm, cozy temperatures. I was hoping to do my first unshod race of the season but it was 16F at the start here in MN. Of course, it being April the predicted high for Thursday is 60F. I'm watching yesterday's snowfall turn to steam on my street right now.

Yeah, I was a bit worried about temps and 39F is the coldest I have ever run, but it turned out to be no problem at all. I did try to stay stretched and limber just prior to starting. Addicting indeed....Will be looking at my next 5K soon!
 
Good job on completing your first 5K. Now onto 10K, right? I've added your post to the home page. Thanks for sharing!
 
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Well done for you race.
What is your best 5km time with shoes?

What a fascinating question for me Elad! This was my first 5K ever. Just before I discovered barefoot running, I *may* have covered 5K on the treadmill a few times, with shoes, but that was literally when I discovered barefoot running. I didn't get back up to 5K again for another year or so (but worked it up barefoot).
 
What a fascinating question for me Elad! This was my first 5K ever. Just before I discovered barefoot running, I *may* have covered 5K on the treadmill a few times, with shoes, but that was literally when I discovered barefoot running. I didn't get back up to 5K again for another year or so (but worked it up barefoot).

Well, that's about a perfect start for your running! My one regret is I didn't try unshod running until I was 42. Missed out on decades of great running that way.
 
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