The nurse who took my blood today at UCSF during my pre-op noticed my black Vibram Five Fingers on my feet. With a surprised voice he said, “Oh, those are fancy shoes!” He asked if they were for swimming. When I responded saying they were for running, it was my turn to be surprised. He responded, saying, “Those must be really comfortable to run in.” I replayed what he had just said in my mind since I’m used to people saying the complete opposite. As I too would have thought before I read Born to Run, the idea of running with no padding or arch support sounds painful to most. I asked him where he came from, since he spoke with an accent. Turns out he hails from Togo, a small country next to Ghana in Western Africa. He explained that he and his friends grew up running barefoot and they played soccer throughout high school barefoot. He then shared a fascinating story. The best runner around was about to run his biggest track meet of his life. He had caught the eyes of a running shoe company who gave a pair of shoes. He accepted them with pride, as it was a symbol of his success to date. However, when he ran the championship race in the shoes, he lost! Upset and in disbelief, he convinced the winner of the race to a re-match. This time he was going to run barefoot. The difference was remarkable: he crushed his opponent in the 5ooo meter race by over a minute!
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