Sacramento Running News

Olympic gold medalist Billy Mills shares some memories with the crowd. (SRN photo)

If you had wandered into the Sheraton Hotel this past Saturday evening, you might have wondered at who this good looking group of people was. “Are they celebrities?” you might wonder. We’re a bit far from Hollywood for a gathering of movie stars but the room was indeed packed with celebrities of a certain type.

If you were an old, Sacramento runner like me, you would have delighted in seeing hundreds of your friends and competitors dressed for a party.

It was, of course, the first annual SRA Running Hall of Fame Award Banquet, where Olympic gold medalist Billy Mills headlined a talented group of eight runners being inducted into the Sacramento Running Association’s Hall of Fame in front of a packed house of area runners and their families. The Master of Ceremonies for the event was KCRA television anchor, runner, and SRA board member Deirdre Fitzpatrick.

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There has been a lot of hype about barefoot running and how shoes change the body’s natural mechanics.

Much of this makes sense, but the jury is out as to the significance of these mechanical changes with regard to performance and injury.

If running barefoot is a bit much for you, perhaps a “minimalist shoe” might help you achieve the mechanical benefits with fewer of the risks. Perhaps.

Then again, perhaps not.

A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine investigated this question, comparing the mechanics of highly trained runners in minimalist shoes, barefoot, and traditional shoes. The findings are a bit surprising. (more…)