Barefoot Running

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Running without running shoes had been very popular recently however involvement in it and the number doing it have dropped of significantly. It was a craze that lasted several years and was largely influenced by social media discourse. This was a short lived trend towards barefoot running that took off about 2009 with an increase of interest in running without running shoes. It was stated in lots of books, blogs and magazine articles that barefoot running was more natural, that it was a more economical way to run and that you got significantly less overuse injuries running that way. Many runners tried barefoot running as opposed to using running shoes and interest in it peaked around 2013. The sales of minimal or barefoot running shoes also peaked about that time, reaching nearly 10% of the running shoe market.

After that original attention and peak interest in barefoot running and minimalist running shoes were gradually dropping. Runners lost interest in running barefoot. The sales of the minimalist running shoes have been declining continuously since about mid- to late 2013. The alleged advantages for it did not eventuate to a lot of runners who tried it but, of course, those who publicized barefoot running simply are convinced that those runners were doing it incorrectly. When the scientific research built up, the results weren't just there. All of the injury rate reports were showing that the injury risk was similar should you be running in footwear versus running without running shoes and most of the running economy studies were also showing that often there weren't any systematic benefits.

While some runners, who're very vocal, still do their running barefoot the important market shift has now been towards the maximalist running shoes with the Hoka One One running shoe being the leader in that group of running shoes. It has now achieved the stage where that brand now outsells the entire group of minimalist running shoes giving an obvious indication of the popularity of cushioned running shoes compared to running barefoot.