Running Barefoot

Charley Robbins, at age 82, has stopped running due to painful arthritis. Some people might say this proves that running barefoot is bad, and he should have worn shoes every time he ran.

Charley is 82 years old. Most shod runners I know of near that age, started running in their 40’s, 50’s or even 60’s. Charley started running barefoot at age 15! There may be a few shod runners who have run 65 years without significant injury, but none of the shod runners I know! Though I do know many, aged 65 and younger, who are suffering after 20 to 30 years of shod running. And I certainly don’t know of any shod runners who were national champions in their prime who were able to continue running for another 5 or 6 decades! All of Charley’s shoe-wearing contempories have been forced to stop running decades ago, due to injuries or death! It would be interesting to know how many of those (injuries, at least) were running related.

Given the preponderance of publicity on shoe-wearing runners, and the rarity of barefoot runners, the comparisons are even more impressive. It’s difficult to find a single barefoot runner, and yet there is at least one, who has been running without injury for more than 65 years. Yet, from the millions (billions) of shod runners around the world, it’s nearly impossible to find even one shod runner with the talent and longevity that Charley has enjoyed!

Among the few who might compare in talent and longevity with Charley Robbins, might be people like the Tarahumara indians of the Sierra Madre. Oh wait, they run barefoot, too!