Bob Graham barefoot?

[IainR]

http://www.outdoorwarehouse.co.uk/in...689488&page=12

6th dog then...

Dogs are great for finding trods at night...

[mikekeswick]

Ah ha! I see the humour isn't lacking then.
So if a dog can do it without foot protection then why does the consensus appear to be that humans cannot also do it without foot protection?

[Stolly]

Who is this scratch? Is he/she actually a dog.....
My dog is also pretty darn good without shoes....in fact i've learnt an awful lot from her. I like the way dogs always run light and always take a great line over rough ground.
Is Colin Valentine still around? Does anybody know how to contact him?

Honestly it would completely and utterly wreck your feet. Just run down Doddick or Halls Fell in bare feet and see how you get on and how fast you are able to move - and they're nothing compared to Fairfield and pretty much every single peak after Bowfell all the way to Honister. I'd say the first 7/8ths of leg 1, the first 7/9ths of leg 2, the first 1/2 of leg 3 and all of leg 5 might just be feasible barefoot (if you completely ignore the time on your feet effect that makes the soles of your feet ache dramatically after 17 or 18 hours) but the rest would screw bare feet over very very badly

[IainR]

Ah ha! I see the humour isn't lacking then.
So if a dog can do it without foot protection then why does the consensus appear to be that humans cannot also do it without foot protection?

Go for it by all means.. but I'm with Stolly here.. dogs have foot pads.. you'd have to do loads of training and have super thick feet I think... so it may be possible... I think you'd end up with bloodied toes from kicking rocks..

[shaunaneto]

Aye, like Stolly and IainR have said. It'd almost certainly end in blood.

Just for context, shoes in one form or another are in the archeological record for 10000 years. And they aren't something which survive well.

Chances are the first opportunity someone had to protect their feet. They took it. Which, is a perfectly natural thing to do.

Tool maker and all that.

[mikekeswick]

i've just finished reading 'Barefoot Running, step by step' by Ken Bob Saxton. It has been a real eye opener for me. To me what he is saying in that book has made complete sense.
The first running book I ever read was 'Feet in the Clouds' because I just happened across a friends copy. At the time I didn't run and hadn't even thought about it for years after getting achilles tendon problems as a young un when I ran too much (wearing heavily cushioned shoes with big heels like most other children). At the time I read that book all I did was go climbing but it sparked something in me and I suppose it's the reason I started running again and half thinking that maybe one day i could do the BG myself.
So I just went out running in the local hills and really enjoyed it once I'd built up a bit more fitness. However after a few months I got a minor tear in my calf...ah well i thought a bit of rest will cure it. So I rested for a bit and then carried on, it felt fine but a bit of scar tissue had formed and this coupled with no physio, too much running too soon meant I tore it again...anyway long story short I eventually got it sorted out but of course there is still some scar tissue there which meant I had to be a bit 'careful' with it, regular massgae etc. Then I came across 'Born to Run' and read it in just about one sitting! Doing what i guess a lot of other inexperienced runners did I thought well of course i'm going to try the 'barefoot' thing and went out and got some inov8 baregrips, thought oh i've got to land up on my toes like the book says....guess what happened....calf tear again......
More physio.....
Finally my calf feels good again and I come across Ken Bob Saxtons book....like I said earlier this book has been a revalation to me. I now understand exactly why I went wrong, what I've been doing wrong and how it has affected my body.
So that's a bit of background of where i'm coming from.
My ambition to do the Bob Graham has evolved into doing it barefoot. I'm going to have fun trying and i'll let you folks know how I get on. At least i'll save a few quid on shoes......

[noel]

It is possible to walk the Bob Graham, so you'd think it should be possible to do it barefoot.

I think the key would be to be fit enough to ascend quickly. Because being barefoot would certainly slow you down on any rocky descents.

I like your style mk. Good luck

[shaunaneto]

There is a book in there somewhere.

[mikekeswick]

Aye, like Stolly and IainR have said. It'd almost certainly end in blood.

Just for context, shoes in one form or another are in the archeological record for 10000 years. And they aren't something which survive well.

Chances are the first opportunity someone had to protect their feet. They took it. Which, is a perfectly natural thing to do.

Tool maker and all that.

Interesting point and one which i've thought about a lot too.
As a sidenote one of my other interests is traditional archery. I make wooden bows, knapp arrowheads, make bowstrings from natural fibers (450lbs breaking strain at a little over an 1/8th inch thick), make buckskin from deer hides and various other things which our ancestors did since the day dot. I am in absolutely zero doubt that our ancestors were highly, highly skilled and not in one way inferior to ourselves. If we needed shoes with heels in them they would have been 'invented' a long, long time before they were! Look at when heels were added to 'sportshoes'. It certainly wasn't long ago. The shoes you talk about were all flat. In fact i've made replica traditional shoes from various cultures and wear my mocasins whenever i'm in my workshop.

[Stolly]

Loads of fell and trail running shoes have minimal drop between the heel and sole but they offer protection too. Heck even Hoka's which on the face of it are extremely cushioned have a very minimal heel to toe drop. This is where the whole barefoot running argument falls down - it is possible to run as your feet were designed too (by god ) and wear shoes that protect your feet and give you grip at the same time.