After “Changing the Running World One Odd Look at a Time,” The Barefoot Runners Society Is Set to Cross the Finish Line
In 2007, a group of runners decided to form a running group. They were from all parts of the country, all running at different abilities, both men and women. They met online when Mark Remy of Runner’s World created a separate forum for them, a forum for runners within a forum. They were runners on the fringe of the running craze, a counterculture of sorts, and they were met with equal parts fascination and ridicule. What did they do that was so radical they needed a separate forum free from trolls?
They took off their cushioned running shoes.
In a world where running meant buying expensive shoes, barefoot and minimalist shoe runners were as odd as ten healthy toes after a marathon. Therefore, Tamara Gerken (TJ) reached out to Remy and asked if Runner’s World could create an online forum dedicated solely (no pun intended) to barefoot and minimalist runners where they could meet and perhaps feel less like an anomaly.
After forming friendships and building enthusiasm, six members of the forum decided a website with vetted members would be a safer place to meet and share their love of running barefoot, and a few months later, the Barefoot Runners Society™ was born.
