Natural Running Center

On Sunday, less than 24 hours after Hurricane Irene roared through the region, the day was calm, the sky blue, and the sidewalk outside Two Rivers Treads in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, was filled with excited kids and their parents. They were there for the VivoBarefoot Kids Shoe Giveaway. Earlier in the week, I had sent [Read more...]

From Japan, comes this ingenious and creative video that marries the super-flexible Nike Free with electronic music. Bending and twisting the shoe produces varying musical sounds. The bass is reserved for foot-striking.

If someone asks you, “please define minimalism,” then Zero Drop highly recommends that you point them in this direction of this two-minute video by Spencer White, who is the director of the Biomechanics Lab at Saucony. He expertly explains minimalist footwear and some of the things you should think about before taking the less-is-more leap. [Read more...]

Tobie Hatfield (Nike Innovation Kitchen Director) and Jeff Pisciotta (Nike Sports Research Lab Director) discuss Nike Free Design in this just-released video (March 2011.) As Hatfield says, it’s been an evolving process of learning ever since the Frees were first introduced in 2004, as Nike continues its research and study of “barefoot in motion.”

Many ardent fans of Vibram FiveFingers bellyache about how long it takes to slip on the barefoot shoes. But leave it to professional sword-swallower and ultrarunner Roderick Russell to tell you how to get VFFs on your eager feet in under 10 seconds. Hey, that’s about one second per toe, or just over a shade [Read more...]

This memorable Nike television commercial, which aired in 2006, was a witty, ironic homage to “Chariots of Fire.” It heralded the early beginning of the barefoot running trend, albeit in well-padded shoes called the Frees. This was three years before Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run became a national bestseller– and which really became the Big [Read more...]