Category: News

In the new book. Tread Lightly: Form, Footwear, and the Quest for Injury-Free Running, Dr. Peter Larson (Runblogger) and Bill Katovsky (Natural Running Center co-founder and editorial director) explore the reasons why pain is so frequently a part of the life of the modern runner, and search for potential solutions to the ongoing injury epidemic….

It’s been just over a month that Micah True’s body was found in the rugged wilderness area of southwestern New Mexico. The legendary ultrarunner and  memorable “Caballo Blanco” centerpiece of Born to Run had gone missing after a rather routine 12-mile trail run. An autopsy report released Tuesday by the Office of the Medical Investigator…

With a population less than Taos, New Mexico, the small town of Iten, Kenya, which is located in the high-altitude (8,000 feet above sea level) Great Rift Valley, has become the go-to training place for world-class marathoners. A recent article in the New York Times about Iten’s runners revealed the following: Male and female Kenyans…

  Runners from tiny Bekoji in the Ethiopian highlands have won eight Olympic Gold medals, broken 10 world records and won 32 world championships.  These numbers are other-worldly. Now there’s a newly released documentary about this amazing mecca of endurance athletes called “Town of Runners” by UK filmmaker Jerry Rothwell.  As one of the coaches…

  Three years ago, I had the privilege of working with Brian Boyle on his memoir,“Iron Heart: The True Story of How I Came Back from the Dead.” On the way home from swim practice, Brian’s future changed in an instant when a dump truck plowed into his Camaro. He was airlifted to a shock-trauma hospital. He…

It’s been only two weeks since the body of ultrarunner Micah True, aka Caballo Blanco, was found in the Gila National Forest in New Mexico. As with any unexpected tragedy, there’s still a lingering mix of shock and disbelief. In a riveting piece for Outside Online, Christopher McDougall describes the weeklong search for his friend who had…

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the M-Factor, a regular feature of the Natural Running Center that will provide readers with the latest trends and news in the minimalist running world. – Nick Pang and Bill Katovsky *** So where is minimalism headed?  Are we still in the early adopters’ phase?  Will we see many…

Last week, Berman DeValerio, one of the country’s premier class action law firms focused on business litigation, has filed a class-action lawsuit against Vibram and Vibram FiveFingers in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts. The complaint seeks a jury trial on the grounds that Vibram is making “false” health claims about its product. These “deceptive” claims…

It wasn’t supposed to end this way for  ultrarunning legend Micah True. Certainly not during a routine 12-mile trail run in the Gila Wilderness of New Mexico. But when he didn’t return from his morning run, and then when search and rescue teams, including a plane, helicopter, and dogs later got involved in the operation…

I have had the pleasure of several recent across-the-world exchanges with Brian Martin of Australia, whose website, Running Technique Tips should be bookmarked by runners interested in improving their form.  Brian is a fitness coach who has been extensively home-schooled by the experts and his own body, and in the end has come out with…

Thank you, Steven Sashen, founder of Invisible Shoes, for providing much-needed clarity on a topic that is as polarizing as health care legislation, or whether Mad Men is a better television show than Breaking Bad. Last week, New York Times health and fitness reporter Gretchen Reynolds wrote about a new barefoot vs. shod running study…

Dr. Mark Cucuzzella and Two Rivers Treads want your old, and they mean really old, running shoes for their new “Shoeseum” that will originally be housed in the Shepherdstown, West Virginia store.  Vintage sneakers from the 60s and 70s are especially wanted (flat-sole, thin treads, lightweight, little cushioning). This makes one think how running has…

Persistence has certainly paid off for Portland, Oregon-based entrepreneur and formerly injured runner David Sypiewski, who has quietly toiled for several years to make the perfect shoe for injury-free natural running. Soon, all runners will be able to step inside David’s dream when Skora running shoes go on sale this February. Well-funded with $1 million…

What is so frightening about these running shoes? A short video explores their terror-producing hold on the imagination.

The just-held summer Outdoor Retailer (OR) Show, which takes place each year in Salt Lake City, can easily overwhelm the senses and send a gear nerd or wilderness aficionado into paroxysms of utter bliss. All the established companies like North Face, Salomon, Mountain Hardwear, and Columbia have huge booths, whereas newcomers in small stalls are…

by Dr. Phil Maffetone. I don’t like writing shoe reviews, because I don’t like many shoes. People often ask what I wear, and in the Barefoot section of my website, one could see some of these shoes. The fact is, most of the day, Coralee and I are usually barefoot. There are times when we…

The barefoot lifestyle blogosphere hasn’t exactly been toeing the line with the recent U.S. Army decision to ban soldiers from wearing barefoot-style or minimalist running shoes while training. It has been literally up in arms over what it sees as a misguided military policy regarding the altered dress code. Here’s the new army reg: The…

The March 28, 2011 issue of the running and triathlon industry trade magazine, SGB, featured a splendid interview with Tony Post president and CEO Vibram USA, who has led Vibram USA since 2001. “Answering the old chicken and the egg question, Vibram FiveFingers first appeared at the Boston Marathon in 2006. Christopher McDougall’s book ‘Born…

The Merrell Naked Foot 5K is the first race of its kind in the country- participants bring a pair of shoes to donate and then run the race barefoot or in minimalist footwear. Here are the cities and dates: Santa Barbara, CA; May 21;  
Boulder, CO: June 18
; Minneapolis, MN: August 20; 
Grand Rapids, MI:…

Come this Fall, specialty running shoe stores will be selling a new line of Brooks footwear called the Pures.  Deliberately eschewing the minimalist tag, these shoes still have a lot of minimalist features: lightweight, flexible soles, very little heel-to-toe drop. Citing extensive market research, Brooks claims that runners aren’t looking for “less” in a shoe;…