Out of 55,090 runners at the July 4th 42nd Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, how many were barefoot or in minimalist footwear? I have no idea, but what I do know is that I only saw myself and Terry (Mokaman) running barefoot and heard of a barefoot runner running in the seeded group ahead of my friend who couldn't catch him, who is also a seeded runner. And Barefoot Tyler ran it barefoot too...in 49:41 no less! (Great job, Tyler!) So that makes four known barefoot runners. I am so sure there were more. Now how many were in minimalist footwear? Well, hanging out outside of my corral waiting for Terry before the race, I counted and chased down to hand out the BRS card to at least 20 minimalist runners: All were wearing VFFs except one was in Neos, one was in Evos, one was in Minumus, and one was wearing Ted's Lunas. Ha! So, if I saw that many cruising by my corral or getting into my corral, how many were in total at the race? A whole bunch more! Last year, I could count the number of VFF runners on all my fingers; this year, I could not. We're making progress!
I wonder how many runners who I wonder how many runners who run in minimalist shoes still consider themselves minimalist runners. Kind of like people who wear blue shoes. I'm not sure many of them really think of themselves as blue shoe runners. At a recent race, I talked to a guy from Fleet Feet who said that minimalist shoes were about 10% of what they sell now, and that number is only going to go up. Unless someone is wearing "toe" shoes, I'm not sure I could pick out whether or not they are wearing minimalist shoes. On the other hand, I can usually tell if someone is barefoot or not.
We had a team of ten from We had a team of ten from Dahlonega, Ga...1 barefoot, 2 minimalists. We had the pleasure of talking with Coach Nicholas Romanov after his seminar on Pose Method...Here is a pic of Barefoot Tyler "bending his ears" about BFR on downhills. He was very interested in helping us.His seminar was worth attending.
I can tell minimal footwear I can tell minimal footwear from other footwear, and I'm near-sighted. I guess because I live and breathe this stuff, and well, I was looking out for them. ;-) Each time I saw something that was minimal (VFFs or not), I ran after them with a BRS card, saying, "Excuse me..." Of those 20 or so, two were already members of the BRS. What a coincidence! One was Chickpastor. I noticed her shoes before I noticed her, and the one in huaraches was Invalid Username (who recently registered--I told him I almost didn't approve his account, and we got a good laugh out of that), and one or two others had heard about the BRS but had not joined yet. All seemed interested.
Thanks for the kind words. Thanks for the kind words. That was a hot day! I saw a ton of minimalist runners. It felt like every 10 minutes I saw one. I wasn't paying much attention and didn't stop to talk to them. I was focused on a PR and was surprised I was able to do it with so many people. Next year I am going to prepare and pass out cards with BRS on one side and my site on the other. One thing I liked was that I saw a TON of people walking around barefoot after the race. I know they didn't race that way, but to see the barefoot comfort level was nice. Great job barefoot runners!
my daughter and I both ran my daughter and I both ran barefoot. I didn't see any other bare feet, but did see lots of five fingers. Great fun and mostly positive reactions, although one guy ran by and just said "tetanus shot" . When my daughter heard someone comment that they were thinking about getting some of "those finger shoes" she called over, "you've already got some"
That's great, Sherry! Too That's great, Sherry! Too bad we missed you. Maybe next time? Got any pictures? I know what you mean, Tyler, about all the bare feet after the race, but I think that's because their shoes were hurting them, and they felt more comfortable barefoot. I like this picture of me. I'm thinking about purchasing it, but it cost $30 for just the one digital!!!! Geez! Here's Terry (Mokaman) Here's my festive toes. Ha!
Great pics TJ!!! I guess I Great pics TJ!!! I guess I am going to have to open my wallet to buy all my photos....its was my first PRR. and my person best , 1:09:13 wave "y"...means alot of passing.
You should definitely get You should definitely get that picture! It's a good one. So, is it true there is no Z Group/Wave? Pam and I noticed there was no I Group. I was in G, she was in H, so I went into her corral. There was no I, but there was a J behind us. We thought that was strange. Out of 26 letters in the alphabet, which ones don't they use?
Sorry I'm a little late on Sorry I'm a little late on this topic. Don't get on here as often as I'd like. I ran BF in Group G; finishing right at an hour. I didn't see any others on the race course going BF. One did pass me pre-race as I was headed to my corrall, but didn't get a chance to catch up with him. Saw quite a few minimal peeps. TJ, InvalidUsername mentioned that he ran into you. He is a good friend of mine. Shame I didn't see you as you were handing out cards. Look forward to running in to more BFRs. Hoping to finally get to some group events.
Nice that our numbers are on Nice that our numbers are on the rise. Wish we could have met too. Hopefully, you'll get to some of our runs. Where around Atanta are you?
Right now, I'm in the Grant Right now, I'm in the Grant Park / EAV area. Just run around here right now. Nothing to special. Need to get up to the greenway or something similar to do some longer runs minus the stoplights, traffic and such.
We'll be having some group We'll be having some group runs coming up shortly. Stay tuned. Can we add you to the Georgia Map?
