San Juan Trail 50k and the The Dirtiest Party Ever!

Shelly and I had an eventful weekend.  We ran the San Juan Trail 50k with Shacky and Vanessa, then attended the Los Angeles Down and Dirty mud run.  The travel was tough, but both events were awesome!

The 50k was run in the mountains southeast of Los Angeles.  The run was directed by Baz Hawley.  If you ever have the opportunity to run one of his races, do it!  It was a typical low-key Read More...

Where is the Running Industry Heading: Ten Observations About the Impact of Barefoot

Over the last year, I’ve had the opportunity to experience multiple facets of the running world, including:

Attending and participating in races (mostly marathons and ultras),
Participating in the planing of races,
Attending running festivals,
Holding clinics for the public and retail sales associates,
Participating in strategic discussions with retailers,
Participating in behind-the-scenes shoe fitting training,
Participating in discussions at the manufacturer and distributor level,
Engaging in conversations with tons of barefoot, minimalist, and maximally-shod runners,
A handful of other experiences within the industry.

Based on Read More...

Micah True is Missing

[Update- Friday March 30, 8:04am pst]- From Luis Escobar’s Facebook status update:

Friday, 3/30 7:37am Silver City, NM Like so many of you, I consider Micah to be my friend. Those of you who know him know that is enjoys his privacy. I would never do or say anything to disrespect that. On the other hand, he has such a large following and I know that you are all sincerely concern about him. With that in mind, I Read More...

On Occasion, Let Your Inner Superhero Shine

This last weekend, Shelly and I ran the Rodeo Valley 50k.  It was a “roadtrip” race for us, meaning it would involve traveling and hanging out with our friends Pablo and his wife Kristina, Krista, Jon, Vanessa, and Shacky.  We knew we’d be doing plenty of laughing and probably a fair amount of drinking, so we decided to make the race itself a little more fun.

We ran it in superhero costumes. [photo courtesy Shacky]

Read More...

Pretty Strong: Merrell Aims to Solve the Female Barefoot Riddle

Sometime last year, Emily Snayd (a friend from Merrell and a crazy-fast runner) started asking me questions about women and barefoot.  Specifically, why aren’t there more women running barefoot and in minimalist shoes?  She had made the transition and was posting shockingly fast times.  She clearly saw the benefit, but noticed the barefoot community consisted of far more men than women.

I didn’t have a great answer.  I had a few theories, but they came from my Read More...

Events Worth Doing

Just a quick note from the road- here are two events worth checking out if you’re even remotely close to the respective areas.  I know both race organizers and each should be absolutely awesome!

Boston Barefoot Running Festival, April- 14-15.  The event will feature a symposium with Ken Bob, Michael Sandler, Irene Davis, Theresa Withee, Daniel Howell, and James Stoxon, and a timed 5k.  Celebrity barefoot runners Preston Curtis and Theresa Withee are organizing the Read More...

Details of Pacific NW Clinics

Here are the final details for the Merrell Bareform clinics over the next few days:

Wednesday, February 29th:

Super Jock and Jill- 7210 E Greenlake Dr. N, Seattle WA 98115, 8:45-9:45am
Born to Run- 213 Yale St. , Seattle, 6:30pm

Thursday, March 1st: Foot Traffic Group Run, 824 Southwest 2nd Avenue, Portland, OR 97204, 5:30pm
Saturday, March 3rd: Clinic in Boise – Shu’s Idaho Running Company, 1758 W. State St., Boise, ID 83702, 7:30 trail run, 10k at 9am, clinic at store following runs

If Read More...