Sacramento Running News

Lloyd Levine

By Lloyd Levine, Special to the SRN

(Editor’s Note: This is a follow-up to two recent, data filled articles that Lloyd Levine wrote on the status of American marathon running. You can find them here.)

The Olympic Trials have come and gone, and on the Men’s side we had what is being touted as a “record breaking” race.  Unfortunately, the records that were broken were soft and old.  The race was interesting and exciting, but rather than illustrate a resurgence in U.S. running, it illustrated how far behind the rest of the world the United States really is.

(A personal note: I do not mean to be negative, just realistic.  I am a fan of running. I love running and watching races.  I love Kenyan runners, Ethiopian runners, and U.S. Runners, as well as runners from many other countries.  I like good races, fast races, and good stories. I would love to see the U.S. be competitive with the rest of the best runners in the world.  I am not anti-American runner; I am pro-realism.)

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I was standing on my driveway yesterday morning, watching a neighbor bundled up against the cold as she minced down the street in her new Vibram Five Fingers and remembered a friend telling me about the mountain of them available at the REI Used Gear Sale.

“They all have a little tag on them where you can see why they were returned,” he said. “Almost all of them said “Uncomfortable.””

You either love them or mock them, but they are everywhere. Last time I was at REI, I noticed that there is now even a “dress shoe” available in the Five Finger style.

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