Running Barefoot, Boston

BTR Barefoot Run: Harlem to Brooklyn, 2010 Aug 11

by Christopher on August 4, 2010

Out of the blue a couple of weeks ago, I heard from John Durant. You probably know him from the Colbert Report, or the New York Times profile of his urban-paleo adventures. We got to talking, and suddenly this is happening. I’ll update soon with more backstory and details, but for now, here’s what’s going down:

Description

Join Christopher McDougall, author of “Born to Run,” and John Durant, founder of Barefoot Runners NYC, in an epic barefoot run from Harlem to Brooklyn. Run barefoot, near-barefoot, or fully shod but barefoot curious. Rediscover the fun of running barefoot, and tap into the natural quickness and strength buried in your soles. We’ll party in the park before and after, and every step of the way. The full run is 8 miles, but feel free to join for any part of the run — see course map for meeting points.

Book Signing

Chris will be giving a book talk at Word Bookstore, just near the finish, at 7:30pm. The cost is $25 (and includes the book), but there is no obligation for runners to attend.

Location

Click for ROUTE MAP

Start: Marcus Garvey Park (NW corner at 124th and Mt. Morris Park)

Time

Time: Run begins at 4pm. Runners will begin gathering at 3pm.

Route Details

Route: Join us anywhere along the way. We’ll be entering Central Park at Malcom X and 110th. We’ll be running on East Drive all the way down through Central Park. We’ll be exiting Central Park at 60th St. and 5th Avenue. Then crossing the Queensboro Bridge to Brooklyn

Finish: American Playground, near Word Bookstore at 126 Franklin Street, Brooklyn (Franklin and Milton)

RSVP

RSVP: To sign up for the run, please RSVP at Barefoot Runners NYC

Media Inquiries

Media Inquiries: Please contact Christopher McDougall or John Durant

Saturday, May 1st, 2010
10AM-11AM

Come join the Metro Boston Barefoot Runners on a smooth dirt (very doable barefoot surface) trail for a 25-30 minute / 5K run along the historic Battle Road Trail in Lincoln and Lexington.

This free run is for anyone who is comfortable running barefoot for a 5K with an average pace with other barefoot runners. Form and running technique will be casually covered during the run if requested.

Meet in the asphalt parking lot as seen in the link below for the Visitor Center. The picture of the sign for this Meetup is the correct parking lot.

Sign up at: http://www.meetup.com/Metro-Boston-Barefoot-Runners/calendar/12984675/?from=list&offset=0

Come join the Metro Barefoot Runners for our 4th Barefoot Runners Workshop in Davis Square on the Minuteman Bike Path.

Sunday, May 23, 2010 From 10AM to 11:30AM

We will go over barefoot running technique and will run very short distances on the Minuteman Bike Path/Alewife Linear Park. (not over 1/4 mile)

Plan for an hour to 1.5 hours for complete workshop.

Classes will be taught barefoot to teach proper technique.

See the workshop reviews at: http://odence.wordpre…

Sign up at: http://www.meetup.com/Metro-Boston-Barefoot-Runners/calendar/13270504/

We are meeting at 10AM in the Seven Hills Park behind the Holland Street Red Line T entrance.
***The GPS address is 40 Holland Street; This is NOT the address. Please see Google Map link below for excact location.*** It is in the Seven Hills Park on the Alewife Linear Park/Minuteman Path.

“ Excellent venue for a barefoot runners workshop around Jamaica Pond. 16 people showed up for this workshop assisted by Preston, Jim and Jeff. Went over proper barefoot running technique on the grass and around the pond giving pointers along the way. It was nice to finally have a workshop outsided and run barefoot on the pavement simulating what it is like to run on the pavement overcoming social, mental and physical barriers of running barefoot. Glad the workshops are outside now as the venue makes a world of difference being outside. ”

Just ran a 5K on a golf course for the 1st time. It was delicious, for sure.

Met Jeff F and Ken S at the race. Was not sure what the race was going to be like, but it was really fun. Running on dry and wet/mud grass and on asphalt/gravel pathways really kicked in different sensations on the surfaces, all good on the feet.

There was a lot of water on/in the grass and felt like I do when I run on the beach as a lot of people’s shoes and socks got wet while me feet dried off very quickly. Lots of hills on this course and noticed that when I went downhill, I cruised by the shod runners. As it was a hilly race, I must have passed over 50 runners throughout the race never giving back. That is a good barefdoot runners secret to take on the shod runners on the hills. It was unbelievable.

On a good note, one of the barefoot runners experienced his 1st barefoot race. He mentioned he loved it.

Hey all you Barefoot Runners,

We just had our 2nd Barefoot Runners workshop yesterday on Cambridge Common. It went reall well with approximately 20 people and met several soon to be experienced barefoot runners.

We were fortunate enough to have Dr. Dan Lieberman from Harvard University Skeletal Biology Lab come by the workshop for nearly 2 hours as he answered many questions and added many of his findings through his years of research.

People really felt like they learned something as we went over running technique and drills as well as a 1/2 mile run or so around Cambridge Common. 3 People really feel confident to run barefoot now.

We look forward to having our next workshop on April 24th.

Barefoot Ken Bob will be coming to Harvard Square, Cambridge on his Summer 2010 Running Barefoot Tour.

Barefoot Ken Bob is the GURU of Runningbarefoot.org (now therunningbarefoot.com) and the Running Barefoot movement. He is based out of Huntington Beach, CA.

He will be holding a free outdoor workshop on the Cambridge Common on June 9th at 6PM. It will last approximately 1 hour and there will be an optional barefoot run after the workshop for approximately 1/2 hour along the Charles River.

The Cambridge Common is located adjacent to Harvard University / Harvard Square.

We will meet across from the First Church, located at 11 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 on the common.

Parking will be available all around the common on all sides.

The location can be accessed by the “T” Red Line in Harvard Square, a 2 minute walk or by Electric Bus.

Hi Everyone,

The Metro Boston Barefoot Runners had a really good Meetup yesterday in the form of a Workshop.

42 people attended the workshop on a large wooden floor in a church facilitated by Jim and me.

We went over techniques, mental barriers, drills and worked on “form”, running barefoot around the room. People commented that they learned a lot and had a good time.

Anyone interested in the March 20th workshop can sign up on Meetup.

Videos

MVI_9154

Photos

Met up with Barefooot Ben and Barefoot Tim yesterday at the Hampton Beach, NH Half Marathon.

It was around 35 degrees out and flurrying when we arrived at 10AM. The Barefoot Good Luck worked at about 10 minutes before the run which started at 11AM. This meant minds had changed from VFF to Barefoot. Good timing.

Ben and Tim ran the 13.1 and I ran 6 miles staving off IT Band issues.

It was really fun and I can kind of dispell the virtual barefoot running topic as there were 3 barefoot runners and at least 4 VFF runners. Several of the VFF runners mentioned they ran barefoot in the warmer weather and almost ran BF yesterday but the snow flurries spooked them. Last year there was only 1 BF runner and possibly 1 VFF runner. This is not a lot out of 1,153 runners, but a better percentage. If this keeps up then next year will be a really cool thing.

Here are some pictures of the people and the race event. There was a good party afterward.

Photos