Cody Marsh is one of our original running specialists at Two Rivers Treads when we opened the nation’s first minimalist shoe store two years ago in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. He came to us as a creative and smart high school student who loved to run, loved nature, loved adventure, and loved helping others. In fact, Cody appears in my first barefoot running video that I made in the spring of 2011. Cody ran barefoot with me, stride for stride, in Antietam National Park.
This week, he starts today on another journey. Cody will be hiking the entire 211-mile John Muir Trail in the California Sierra mountains…barefoot. He will be bringing along Vibram FiveFingers in reserve if needed for safety. The goal of his solo, self-supported, three-week trek is to raise awareness and funds for a Central African Cause: the Invisible Children Foundation.
In a local television news interview, Cody explains more: “A man by the name of Joseph Kony, leading the Lord’s Resistance Army, the LRA, has been committing atrocities since 2003. Those atrocities are in the form of mass murders, rape, the abduction of children to turn them into child soldiers, and a lot of displaced families and communities.”
And why do the hike barefoot? After all, the John Muir Trail, which starts in Yosemite and ends on Mt. Whitney, is hardly a walk in the park. It’s rocky in parts, above altitude, and goes over snow-covered passes. Still, as Cody said in the interview, he believes walking barefoot is the healthiest and most natural way for your feet to function. {Something I definitely agree with). Plus, “if you look at people in Third World countries, who unfortunately can’t afford footwear, or don’t have access to footwear, they spend a lot of their time barefoot, but they have very, very healthy feet.”
Cody’s fund-raising will be using his blog, and donating the money to the Invisible Children Foundation that has educational, humanitarian aid and relief programs running since 2003.
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And if you live near the Baltimore Washington area join us this week!
Natural Running Seminar and Clinic
Thursday August 9
6-8:00 PM
MedStar Harbor Hospital, Baum Auditorium
I will be speaking with Josh Billings, Physical Therapist and Running Program Coordinator for MedStar NRH Rehabilitation Network. Josh and I will give an unbiased overview of what natural running is and is not. We will present an overview of why and how runners can benefit from changes in form and shoes, but also tie it together with training and overall enjoyment in running.
Following the seminar(weather permitting), we will hold a harbor-side clinic to present exercises and form drills to help in transitioning to more natural running.
To register for this free seminar and clinic, please call 410-350-2563
If Cody needs anything feel free to contact me. I currently work for the US Forest Service near Mount Whitney and formerly worked for the National Park Service in Yosemite National Park. Contact me at the provided email address. Good luck Cody!
I came across this post and having thru-hiked the JMT myself, and knowing how unpleasantly rocky the terrain is in some parts, I was wondering if he ever successfully completed this endeavor? My feet hurt with boots on, I can’t imagine being barefoot. Although, during my trek, I did see one young man out there barefoot.