Welcome Bob Nicol, a.k.a., Barefooting Bob as our new Admin VP!
Bob Nicol (Barefooting Bob) has taken over the Administrative Vice President's position from Jamie Lee (Paleo). Jamie has had a lot of events taking place over the past few months that have called him in another direction. No loss for us, thankfully, as Jamie has moved into an Advisor role, along with Jason Robillard and Ken Bob Saxton, a lot of good company there! One of Bob's first responsibilities will be to coordinate the 2013 International Barefoot Running Day (taking place the second Sunday in May, the 12th) and the IBRD Tee Shirt Contest. Please welcome your new VP, and let's get to know Bob a little better.
Bob began his journey into the barefoot and minimialistic running world in January of 2010 and has been running happily ever since. Plagued by a number of knee and leg issues, he struggled to find that 'Sometimes Elusive Way to Run Without Pain' when he was convinced by his wife to look into barefoot running. With a lot of research and encouragement, he found the Barefoot Runners Society and jumped into running with both bare feet, literally.
In early summer of 2010, he had his last knee surgery (a cleanup of bone chips, fragments, and a general scrapping of his kneecap to remove any bone spurs), and his doctor at the time looked at him funny when Bob told him that he had been running and was going to continue to run with a goal to complete a marathon some day. Bob recounted the doc's exact words, after the doc finished laughing, "Your knees are destroyed. You will never be able to run, and if you do, it will be no more than a couple of miles, but why would you do that to yourself?" Well that was a challenge, and Bob does not like being told he cannot do something, so the very weekend after his surgery, he went out and ran a 10km race just to prove the doc wrong...and he hasn't stopped running since!
Bob shares that running and finding new challenges has become a passion of his. He started with the normal 5km races and quickly moved up to 10kms and followed up with his first marathon early in the fall of 2010. By this point, he had caught the running fever and was looking for new challenges where he could push the limits. Bob started running trails and was so amazed with the similarities to barefoot running. The connection to nature just hooked him, and that has spurred him into running ultra marathons and other unique runs. In his short barefoot and minimalistic running adventures, Bob has run numerous half marathons over varying terrains, marathons, and 50km ultras. He ran across Lake Winnipeg in the middle of the winter, and he ran 2 legs of the Canadian Death Race (including a mountain summit). He attempted his first 100 mile ultra, ran 120 plus days straight, and ran an 8-hour non-supported adventure race in the wilderness, but his biggest accomplishment thus far has been running over 1,100 miles barefoot and counting in 2012.
Bob has some ambitious goals for 2013. He wishes to complete the Canadian Death Race solo, run a 135km unsupported run across the prairies in the dead of winter, and complete his first 100-mile ultra. I'm sure he can do it too!
Bob shares that he may not be the quickest runner, but he is determined to put his best foot forward in everything that he does.
Bob states, "I enjoy running for the sake of running and hope that I can inspire others like those before me have inspired me. I am having the time of my life and don't want anybody to pinch me for fear of waking up from this most fantastic dream!"
