Barefoot running

After the Battle of Marathon, it is said he ran straight from the battlefield to Athens to inform the Athenians of the Greek victory over Persia.

He would go on to defend his Olympic title four years later in Tokyo while wearing Puma shoes and setting a new world record.

[6] In the 1970s, Shivnath Singh, one of India's greatest long distance runners, was known for always running barefoot with only tape on his feet.

She won the 1985 and 1986 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and competed in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

[7] Kenyan runner Tegla Loroupe began running barefoot 10 km (6.2 mi) to and from school every day at the age of seven.

The longitudinal arch has been observed to decrease in length by an average of 4.7 mm, suggesting activation of foot musculature when barefoot that is usually inactive when shod.

Reduction of contact time and higher pre-stretch level can enhance the stretch shortening cycle behaviour of the plantar flexor muscles and thus possibly allow a better storage and restitution of elastic energy compared to shod running.

[19] Improperly fitting shoes may also result in injuries such as a subungual hematoma, a collection of blood underneath the toenail.

Shoes, such as moccasins or thin sandals, permit a similar gait as barefoot, but protect the feet from cuts, abrasion and soft sticky matter.

[3] These sandals have a single long lace with a thin sole made from either recycled tires, commercially available replacement outsole rubber, or leather.

[21] Historically, plimsolls were worn by children in the United Kingdom for physical education classes as well as by soldiers for PT.

Inexpensive "dime store" plimsolls have very thin footbeds (3mm elastomer/rubber outsole, 1mm card, 2mm eva foam) and no heel lift or stiffening.