A grow­ing body of sci­en­tific research shows that run­ners expe­ri­ence less injuries and faster times when they run bare­foot or with min­i­mal padding. In fact, research pub­lished in Sports Sci­ence in 2001 by Michael War­burtin points out that, “Lab­o­ra­tory stud­ies show that the energy cost of run­ning is reduced by about 4% when the feet are not shod.” Trans­late the energy saved into time over a run and you are going to expe­ri­ence a per­sonal record. Add the reduced chance you’ll suf­fer an injury and it’s a big win for us runners.