Barefoot Running Workshop

group: Dani, Hattie, Hannah & Sam

Task 1:

The participant ran with shoes on to begin with. Here we identified that the runner was a rear foot striker (RFS). Their body angles were as follows:

Ankle - 74
Knee - 175
Hip - 140

Task 2:

The participant then repeated this task with bare feet. Here we identified that the runner became a mid foot striker (MFS). Their body angles were as follows:

Ankle - 93
Knee - 147
Hip - 141

The straightness of the leg with the shoe results in a heavy impact due to the shock running through the hip, knee and ankle. Although the show reduces this it does not eliminate it completely. The angles show a similar hip angle but different knee and ankle angles. This results in more flexion of the knee in the bare foot running. This causes the stretch shortening cycle of the leg and foot arc creating elastic recoil and power. To create a MFS, the leg is whipped forwards to to prevent heel pain on impact. However, this type of running requires a strong calf and achilles tendon to be effective.

Task 3 & 4:

In order to give some indication to how effective shod running is compared with bare foot, the participant ran around a hall for a minute whilst another participant counts their foot strike. They were filmed to identify their foot strike positioning too. Some attempts were ran using a metronome to 180 bpm, with and without shoes. Results are shown below:

Attempt 1: metronome not used - shoes on - 182 SPM - RFS
Attempt 2: metronome used - shoes on - 170 SPM - RFS
Attempt 3: metronome not used - no shoes - 172 SPM - MFS
Attempt 4: metronome used - no shoes - 186 SPM - MFS

When the participant had their shoes on he took more steps with no metronome, but fewer with the metronome suggesting they increased their stride length to keep up with the pace of the metronome. With no shoes their striking pace increased more significantly perhaps due to the stretch shortening cycle effect produced in the leg and foot arc. All in all, this data is not enough to distinguish whether bare foot running or shod running is more effective.