Happy Birthday, BRS!
You Are One Year Old Today!!!!
By Nyal Davidsson
Quite often when a runner makes the odd choice of removing their traditional running shoes, they begin a process that changes them and how they view running forever. It has often been stated, and rightly so, that barefoot running is an entirely different sport, but what is most remarkable is that few runners taking those first few ginger steps know that there is an adventure in their futures.
The BRS reflects this process in a unique fashion. I wonder whether the principles behind the venture had any inkling of what they were about to create. Did they envision the people they were about to meet, the relationships they were about to sow, the trove of handy and insightful information they would synthesize?
A few short years ago, there were many people who ran barefoot without these advantages, like founding member Tamara Gerken, a.k.a., Barefoot TJ, who recently chatted with me about barefooting it old school.
“The resources I found on the Internet at the time I began running barefoot were quite minimal. I enjoyed Runner's World's online forums, but they just weren't suited to the needs of a barefoot runner. I felt alone there.”
TJ, like so many others, was forced to learn on her own the art of barefoot running, the resources available were not always perfect, and when one is alone the learning curve is steep, but she managed to do alright. Unlike me, however, TJ reacted in a much more constructive fashion.
“I had been posting at Runner’s World for a little while, so I wrote to Executive Editor Mark Remy, and asked him if he would entertain the idea of creating a Barefoot Running Forum. I was so pleased he had taken my plea to heart, and on March 17, 2009, the RW Barefoot RunningForum was born. It has grown into a very successful forum, one of their best, despite the many negative comments in the beginning that it would be a failure. In the beginning, the very few barefoot runners frequenting that forum were treated quite harshly, actually. We were called many names, such as freaks, hobbits, etc. It was quite humorous at times, but it got to be old pretty quick. Knowing that others would be scared off, I wrote to Mark again and asked him to please intervene, which he did, and we were then able to get down to the business of supporting one another and building relationships,” TJ remembers.
I have fond feelings for this forum. One day last February I searched for running forums and found Runner's World. Out of pure, fascinated horror, I clicked into the barefoot running section and found myself enthralled by the very notion of real live people in Western society running without shoes. Eventually, my curiosity got the better of me, and I ran a very cold hundred meters soon thereafter. Like a newly invented drug, foot crack, I was addicted. In a very real sense, TJ and the RW BFR Forum are my intellectual ancestors.
I recall this experience not to indulge a sense of nostalgia but to illustrate that running barefoot changed something very fundamental about me. I began to notice other runners. Until this point, I happily plopped along ignoring everybody and everything with earbuds blasting great music. But with my shoes off, I discovered a world of people and of colorful people at that. I strongly suspect this is not unusual among barefooters. We are a tribe. One change in a bevy of changes that I did not foresee. TJ seemed to agree.
“Talking about running barefoot was fine, but it just wasn’t enough. I longed to run with other barefoot runners. As you know, we get some pretty strange stares, and we can be made to feel uncomfortable at times. It’s reassuring to run with others who also enjoy the same type of running that you do. When we run together, we don’t feel so ‘alone.’ I just knew that there were others out there just like me feeling the same way and wanting the same thing. Sorta like a dating service for barefoot runners, but instead of ‘dating,’ we run together. That was my main interest in creating the BRS.”
But what was so flawed with the home we had in the RW BFR Forum? Why the compelling drive to create a competing organization? Simply put, the growing family needed a bigger house. Momma had three kids and just found out she was pregnant with triplets. What to do?
“Over the next several months, some of the long time posters of that forum and I started bouncing ideas around for barefoot running conventions and barefoot running clubs, and we came up with quite a few great ideas. We basically sat back and said, “As a barefoot runner what would I need to help me through my barefoot running journey, successfully?” Many of the resources the BRS offers were formed within those threads there. You can say the BRS was conceived at Runner’s World,” TJ jokes.
Obviously, the BRS has already helped many of us here on the website. You would not be reading this article if you did not already know about many of the resources and the support you have found here. Chances are you already feel at home. This is no accident. As great as barefoot runners are, it takes effort, intelligence, insight, passion, time, and money to make a house a home. There are no web services that have templates that can plop a proverbial wreath on a door or put knick knacks on tiny shelves. But what is the Barefoot Runners Society, really? Have you taken the time to read the blueprint that was used in building this fine structure? Listen again to TJ.
“The Barefoot Runners Society was founded upon one basic premise -- to support barefoot and minimalist runners in every way possible to help them become healthier, happier runners. Our goals can be found in our Mission Statement.”
- To offer resources that unite barefoot and minimalist runners from around the country.
- To promote barefoot running around the country and at race events as a competitive sport.
- To educate the running public on the health benefits of barefoot and minimalist running.
- To dispel the myths associated with barefoot running that negatively impact the sport.
And now it doesn't matter. Now we do not have to hear those words, endure those stares alone with our thoughts and wonder whether deep down we were doing something wrong. (My early runs were quite thrilling in this way, actually. I really did feel like I was streaking.)
“I have since watched many of them, men and women alike, grow through their barefoot running journeys. We have shared in each other’s triumphs and failures, each other’s pain and joy. We have been there to lean on one another and offer that support and reassurance so desperately needed when at times it seems the running world (and society) has turned its back on us. We have held each other up and witnessed average Joe runners, some with repeating shod injuries, become quite good athletes through running barefoot. Many of them have gone on to achieve barefoot and minimalist marathons and ultra distances, something they thought they would never be able to do, with or without shoes. And at the same time, those accomplished, seasoned runners wholurked for so long and decided to dive in and take a chance on barefoot running, were able to find that they too could ditch their shoes and obtain the distances and speeds they once had, if not increase in those areas.
We are uniting runners and promoting barefoot running - with new chapters springing up all over the country and the world, barefoot and minimalist runners are meeting for group runs and camaraderie monthly; we are educating the public on the health benefits of running barefoot and minimalist – with our new Library developed by Stomper and our Barefoot Running 101 online course developed by Jason Robillard, people will be able to find as much info as needed to safely transition to and run barefoot and minimal; we are dispelling the negative thoughts associated with bare feet and running barefoot – everyday, the more our sport grows, the less likely we are thought of as freaks. With folks like Barefoot Ken Bob Saxton and Barefoot Rick Roeber running numerous barefoot marathons (in the 70s and 80s, respectively), with the likes of Barefoot Ted McDonald, Jason Robillard, and Leif Rustvold running 100 mile ultras, and Todd Ragsdale setting the world record for the longest barefoot run at 102.65 miles, and elites like brothers Julian and Alex Romero and Patrick Sweeney winning races at all distances, soon barefoot running will no longer be thought of as a careless and dangerous sport. These guys are proving that barefoot running can be a very competitive and fulfilling sport, just as shod running is,” TJ shares.
There are many people she would like to acknowledge for their help in growing the BRS. In no particular order, they are: Cameron Guthrie (Deltfather), Jason Robillard (Last Place Jason), Victor Palma (Palmav), Haley DiCicco (HaleyUSF), Preston Curtis (Barefoot Runner), Barefoot Ken Bob, Barefoot Rick Roeber, Mark Warren, Jimmy Hart, Andrew Grosvenor (Snowshoe_hare), Wendy Nail (BFWendyBird), Katie Button-Swenson (Barefoot.Zumba.Runner), Mike Rives (Miker), Oscar Mike (FNG-OscarMike), Olle Albinsson (Blind Boy), Stomper, Krista Cavender (Zapmamak), the many Chapter Presidents who have stepped up to take on a piece of the BRS, and all the members who have and continue to submit writings on occasion.
I am a little surprised. Despite living in this big BRS house, even I was not fully aware of what it has done for so many. For the longest time, I have been playing in the forum portion of the website, happily watching TV all this time while there was an Olympic sized swimming pool of awesome down the hall!
I am excited. I hope you are as well. The trip this far has offered splendorous vistas of friendship, conversation, running buddies, libraries of information, articles, and even freebies beyond countable numbers. There lay miles upon miles of track ahead of us. There will be more chapters created around the worldfilled with runners who understand that mud is a good thing, and they will proudly wipe their feet at our front door. One year into the project, our family is growing quickly, and even over the last two years barefoot running has grown to be essentially mainstream.
Happy Birthday, BRS! It isn't fair, but you have given me the presents. Here's to another year and million more miles/kilometers!
Nyal Davidsson
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