Barefoot running is something that is getting a lot of recent attention in the media and on discussion forums as an alternative to running with the use of running shoes. There is a lot of passion shown by those who do run barefoot and they strongly advocate that this is how everyone should run.
Those who run barefoot and promote it make a number of claims for the superiority of running barefoot over the use of running shoes. They claim that the cushioning or soft running shoes are actually the cause of a number of running injuries and that they do not help as claimed by the running shoes industry. However, there is no evidence at all that running shoes cause any injury. All of the risk factor studies on running injuries have not found running shoes to be a factor.
There are also claims that there are less injuries in those that run barefoot due to what is claimed to be increased strength of the foot and leg muscles as well as an improvement in running gait or biomechanics. Again, there is no evidence on the injury rates between shod and barefoot running. A look around the barefoot running social websites certainly shows a lot seem to be getting stress fractures and other injuries. There is also no research that has shown that barefoot running is any better than running in shoes. There have been some studies that have compared barefoot to shod running and other studies that have compared forefoot running (tends to be barefoot) to heel running (tends to be shoe running) and shown the differences, but none of them showed that one was better than the other. Many in the barefoot community have interpreted the research that way, but that is not what it shows.
All this does not mean that barefoot running does not have some benefits and it probably does. Many runners sensibly include barefoot drills in their training program, but distance themselves from some of the fanatical claims that do come from some sectors of the barefoot running community.
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Podiatry Arena has the latest research on barefoot running and the debates on barefoot running, as well as information on the stress fractures in barefoot running.