Running in Bare Feet!

I overheard someone the say after the last OY that they had seen a pair of shoes at a control out in the forest! Who and why on earth would someone just leave their shoes at a control? Well turns out it was one of those tough people from Nelson, Hamish Kay. Half way around his course his feet "were chafing really bad" So he took them off and ran the rest of the course in bare feet. It wasnt the first time he had done so either! The previous OY the same thing happened and he ran most of the course in bare feet including through the treacherous burnt out area at Spencerville where Matt Scott put a stick through the sole of his shoe a year or so earlier....

So yesterday afternoon I was bored and I stumbled apon this article on running in bare feet. I have heard previously that running in bare feet strenghtens the mucles in your feet therefore improving your "foot speed" and making you a stronger runner. Im not sold on the idea myself, as we (humans) have created an urban enviroment complete with concrete, boy racers and subseqently broken glass all over the freaken place... So I think shoes still have their place and especially in orienteering which is often in seroiusly rough terrain...way too rough for bare feet.

Then where does running in bare feet have its place? I know that Nick Willis does one session a week of running in bare feet on grass. So supplementing your training with sessions like this could definately be benefical to your over all conditioning.