Air soles, gel pads and tubular bounce springs. Celebrity endorsements, iconic slogans and fancy names. Outrageous colors and logo inspired tread patterns. The gimmicks to get consumers buying the latest running shoes are endless.

Often, the glossy ads trumpeting these new fangled technologies will make people feel that their old, once adequate and cutting edge, seem uncompetitive and just plain boring. The trend toward fancy high-technology running shoes can only intensify now that the sport has become trendy.

But tellingly, what most professional distance runners actually use for competitions are minimalist running flats with the thinnest possible soles. No air, no gel pads and no springs. More alarmingly, despite all the fancy high-tech footwear advertised, running injuries remain prevalent.

A study titled "Epidemiology and Etiology of Marathon Running Injuries" (Fredericson M and Misra A) finds “yearly incidence rates for injury reported to be as high as 90 percent in those training for marathons.”

“Expensive athletic shoes are deceptively advertised to safeguard well through ‘cushioning impact,’ yet account for 123 percent greater injury frequency than the cheapest ones,” states a study titled "Hazard of Deceptive Advertising of Athletic Footwear" (Robbins S and Waked E).

According to a study titled "Barefoot Running" (Warburton M), those using modern day high-tech thick-soled shoes were more likely to get injured than those running barefoot or with rudimentary thin-soled footwear. Furthermore, it notes, “Laboratory studies show that the energy cost of running is reduced by about 4 percent when the feet are not shod.”

Having thickly cushioning shoes engenders runners to impact the ground hard with their heels—something they could never get away with on bare feet. Despite shoe cushioning, this heel strike stride makes people prone to injury and wastes their energy. A study titled "Athletic Footwear: Unsafe Due to Perceptual Illusions" (Robbins and Gouw GJ) explains, “A perceptual illusion is created whereby perceived impact is lower than actual impact, which results in inadequate impact-moderating behavior and consequent injury.”

Conversely, running barefoot naturally forces runners to adopt a midsole strike where the weight of the body is distributed evenly on the entire foot. Several sources explain why. “When running barefoot on hard surfaces, the runner compensates for the lack of cushioning underfoot by plantar-flexing the foot at contact, thus giving a softer landing,” notes the study "Kinematically Mediated Effects Of Sports Shoe Design: A Review. Journal Of Sports Sciences" (Frederick). (The plantar fascia is a thick fibrous band of tissue originating on the bottom surface of the heel bone and extending along the sole of the foot towards the five toes.) “Barefoot runners also land mid-foot, increasing the work of the foot’s soft tissue support structures, thereby increasing their strength and possibly reducing the risk of injury,” notes "Explosive Running" (Yessis).

Such a gait closely resembles those of Kenyan runners—the world’s undisputed marathon kings. Besides having a tall lean physique that translates to longer strides and living in a high altitude plateau that promotes more oxygen-carrying red blood cell production, many Kenyans grow up running barefoot and prefer the thinnest running flats for footwear.

“Running-related chronic injuries to bone and connective tissue in the legs are rare in developing countries, where most people are habitually barefooted,” notes a study titled "Running-Related Injury Prevention Through Barefoot Adaptations" (Robbins and Hanna).

Warburton’s studies also show that thick soles desensitize the feet from anticipating and coping with changes in terrain. Thick soles and heels also increase the leverage and magnify the damage that stumbles and twisted ankles wreak upon joints and muscles.

Warburton’s study summarizes: “It is claimed that footwear increases the risk of such sprains, either by decreasing awareness of foot position provided by feedback from plantar cutaneous mechanoreceptors in direct contact with the ground, or by increasing the leverage arm and consequently the twisting torque around the sub-talar joint during a stumble. Running shoes always reduce proprioceptive and tactile sensitivity.”

Heeding the trend toward barefoot running are several innovative products.

Gloves for barefoot runners
Ironically, the scientific scrutiny incurred by high-tech cushioning gimmicks of sports shoe brands has spawned an altogether new fad in the opposite direction—minimalist footwear that allows for a barefoot running experience with maximum flexibility, minimal cushioning and a modicum of protection.

Vibram Five Fingers shoes are the most startling of these designs. They bare little in common with conventional running shoes and resemble gloves for the feet, fully articulating each toe separately. Even their construction and materials—synthetic stretchable Gamuza leather uppers and Velcro straps—borrows from sports gloves. Of course, for soles, they utilize the famous Vibram compound.

Currently, Vibram Five Fingers shoes are not available locally. Filipino runners who do posses them find them comfortable and durable. They are used for training to allow their runners to adopt an energy-efficient and less injury-prone stride.

Newton running shoes, though seemingly more conventional in appearance than the Five Fingers, represents a radical approach to shoe design. Extremely flexible, it is designed to promote a proper mid sole strike. It has patented actuator lugs that favor striking the ground on the foot’s “sweet spot.”

Newton running shoes are available at Runnr store, Bonifacio Highstreet, Taguig Global City. Already, they are on the wish list of many local runners and those who already have them swear by them.

Major sport shoe brands also have models that feature ultra-flexible soles. These include the New Balance MR800 and the Nike Free. Both brands are widely available.

Beyond fad and counter fad
Aspiring barefoot runners must take time to slowly relearn how to run and adapt their stride for unshod running. Barefoot running requires a different gait to avoid injury.

Though many endurance runners now use “barefoot shoes” for training, no professional of prominence has so far competed using these “barefoot shoes.” Instead, they use ultra-lightweight running flats provided by their sponsors.

To the extremists who shun foot ware altogether, beware: The skin on the soles need time to gradually thicken and toughen. And no matter how thick the skin may be on one’s soles, pebbles and pointed items strewn across the terrain can still injure barefoot runners.

Shoes, having been worn since birth, have irrevocably shaped feet, tapering the biggest and smallest toes toward the center and crowding all the digits to fit into narrow yet stylish shape of shoes. (With indigenous peoples who have gone with their feet unshod for all their lives, their toes are splayed out widely and cannot fit in most shoes.)

In an article "Live Science" written by Rachael Rettner, Dr. D. Casey Kerrigan, professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation, cautions, “We’ve evolved to run on compliant surfaces, not on asphalt or concrete. You run on something hard, your body has to work that much harder to help absorb those forces, and that can lead to stresses and strain, wear and tear, really throughout the whole body.”

Instead, Kerrigan suggests, “‘I think people should run in what they feel most comfortable running in . . . and whether that’s in a pair of running shoes or in a minimum kind of running shoe, that’s just fine.”

Baring Their Soles: Athletes try barefoot running at Scotts Valley clinic

Click photo to enlarge

Runners run laps barefoot in Sky Park on Wednesday. (Robinson Kuntz/Sentinel)

SCOTTS VALLEY -- Natalia Rivera-Espana ran about half a mile with blades of grass sliding between her toes and cold mud oozing under her feet. Then she made a beeline for her socks and shoes.

Barefoot running isn't for everyone.

"It's cold. I'm not enjoying it as much as I should be," Rivera-Espana, 26, explained as she tightened her laces.

The Santa Cruz resident was one of more than 20 runners who bared their soles at Skypark on Wednesday during a barefoot running clinic organized by the Santa Cruz Triathlon Association's Nu2Tri program. Like Rivera-Espana, most participants hadn't run barefoot since elementary school and were hesitant to doff their high-tech shoes.

But more and more, runners are leaving their Nikes and New Balances at the door. Barefoot running has experienced a boom of late, spurred by Christopher McDougall's recent book on the topic, "Born to Run," and new studies that suggest there are several benefits to going sans shoes.

This is the first year Rod Heskett, who has been an SCTA coach for six years, has been asked by the club to teach barefoot running. He jumped at the chance but laughs at the idea barefoot running is something new.

"My standard reply is, It's been around since before shoes,'" he said.

Heskett, 41, has been running barefoot his whole life. He often trained without shoes while running the mile for West Valley College and Fresno State. As the owner of the athletic consulting business SelfQuest,

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he teaches clients to run barefoot, believing it improves their gaits and helps prevent injuries.

Without shoes, Heskett said, runners tend to have lighter gaits, landing more on the mid-sole and balls of their feet instead of on their heels. Plus, without the barrier of shoes, runners are more aware of the connection between their feet and the ground. That can mean the painful connection between their heel and an acorn or the soothing connection between the toes and the sand, both of which runners can learn to live with, he said.

"Tonight," Heskett warned the group, "is going to freak your feet out."

Barefoot running drew mixed reviews from the group Wednesday night.

Rivera-Espana ran track for Harbor High and completed the San Francisco Marathon last year. She said her feet just got too cold padding around naked on the wet grass.

"I'll probably try it a little bit, but I like my shoes," she said.

Meanwhile Keith Britany, whose feet were bundled in thin, rubber foot-gloves of sorts -- called the Vibram Five Fingers -- seemed to be enjoying every stride.

Britany, a 56-year-old Capitola resident, started as a race walker, completing several marathons and half marathons over a three-year span. He began running last year after he decided to take up triathlons so he could finally learn how to ride a bike. He said the transition from race walker to runner was rough.

"The first time I [ran], it hurt so bad, it got my attention," Britany said, noting he would strike hard on his heel, just as he did in walking. "It sent a shiver up my spine."

Another running coach suggested Britany try barefoot running, and three months ago Britany picked up the foot pads at a running store. Now he's happily striding along with the wind at his feet and his dog, Shilo -- who also runs barefoot -- at his side.

"It's so fun," Britany said.

Like Heskett -- who usually races in shoes -- Britany said there are, or should be, limits to barefoot running. He decided this during one of his last race-walking marathons, when he saw a man on the course running barefoot.

"If it wasn't for the gross factor, I would have been impressed," Britany said. "I saw the bottom of his feet -- ew."

I don't particularly enjoy running. On the other hand, I don't particularly enjoy being overweight and out of shape either, so I do it — usually about three times a week, depending on my work schedule and willpower. But over the years I've developed chronic soreness in my knees and lower back, which I attribute at least in part to running — it can't all be from spending my days sitting in an office chair. I'm not alone; in any given year, about two-thirds of all runners will suffer an injury of some kind. It's enough to convince runners to spend hundreds of dollars on tricked-out running shoes that promise to protect their tired trotters.

But in some cases, injury inspires runners to do the opposite: dispose of their running shoes altogether. You've probably heard about the so-called barefoot running trend, which I write about in this week's issue of Time, and which a growing group of running enthusiasts — along with the occasional scientist — argue is the best thing you can do for your feet. Basically, the reasoning goes, running shoeless forces you to run the right way. Most of us use a heel-to-toe stride when we run in shoes, but this is possible only because running sneakers have such heavy cushioning in the heel. When running barefoot, runners land on their softer midfoot, and use shorter strides. That puts less stress on sensitive joints, which a December study in the Journal of Injury, Function and Rehabilitation showed.

Presumably, less stress means less injury, but there haven't yet been any long-term studies comparing the injury rates of barefoot runners to shod ones. But I can tell you, based on my own personal experiment running shoeless in New York City, that going barefoot has its benefits. (Actually, I didn't go completely barefoot. I used Vibram Five Fingers, which are like rubber gloves for your feet

I started with just a couple of miles at a time, running shoeless in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. At first, I felt mostly soreness in my Achilles tendon, because barefoot running forces you to use your calves much more then when running in shoes. But once that soreness passed, I began to like doing it barefoot. I usually have a pounding stride like an elephant, but running in the Vibrams made me concentrate on my style, falling more lightly on the middle of my foot, with a shorter step. It sounds spacey, but I felt more attuned to the ground — I could actually feel what I was running on. As for my back and knees, they both felt better after running barefoot then they used to after a long jog in my Nikes.

Jury still out on whether barefoot running trend is beneficial by Mary Beth Faller

The Arizona Republic