I just got my copy of the DVD today. what a fantastic film. if it’s not the best running movie ever made, it’s damn sure in the fight.

And it’s totally do-able. It ain’t cheap, but opportunities of a lifetime never are.
From Outside magazine:

Next winter, Jurek is joining forces with the Himalayan Cataract Project and imagine1day to offer 14 runners the chance to join him on a 10-day voluntour and running expedition to Ethiopia. “I’ve been trying to find partners and projects that bring together my passion for running with my desire to give back,” says Jurek of the Accelerate Ethiopia program, a fundraising initiative launched today to support HCP, a group that supplies high-quality, low-cost eye care in the developing world and imagine1day, a Canadian non-profit working to provide all Ethiopians access to quality education funded free of foreign aid by 2030. “This trip allows runners to not just raise money through racing, but to experience an amazing culture and give back along the way.”

The trip, which runs from February 22 to March 3, 2012, is a unique opportunity to train and race with some of the world’s best endurance athletes in one of the most stunning trail running settings on the planet. In addition to spending time with Jurek, participants will join Ethiopian superstars Gebre Gebremariam (winner of the 2010 New York City Marathon), Werknesh Kidane (world cross-country racing champion), and Haile Gebresalassie (two-time Olympic gold medal winner in the 10,000 meters) on runs in the rugged Gheralta Mountains, home to some of the world’s oldest Christian churches.

At his wedding last month, Scott and his new bride personally served dinner to every single guest. For those of us with shabbier moral codes, it’s hard to ever measure up to a guy like that. Here’s your chance.

Coach E, the guy who beat me in a bet when I said there was no way I could run a 50-mile footrace, also opened my eyes to the sins of structured running shoes. Better put, he won the bet because he showed me how destructive they are. Instead of just beefing about the problem, he’s come up with his own solution — he’s designed his own minimalist shoe. He’s calling it B2R, although I have to point out that it’s entirely his business, not mine (the punk hasn’t even gotten around to sending me a pair yet. Size 13, please! 14 if you’ve got it).
What I like most about his approach is his idea that shoes are an accessory, not a solution. The best shoes protect your feet but stay out of your way. They don’t change anything. They don’t fix anything. If you’re doing something wrong, nothing you buy will help. If you learn to run correctly, you can wear whatever you please.

Even Crocs. Maybe especially Crocs. According to John Kent, a 62-year-old New Zealander, all you have to do is sling one of his Eazirun ankle straps around your Crocs and you’ve got a cheap, durable, ultra-ventilated pair of zero(ish)-drops that will last 1,000-plus miles. Think he’s wrong? You’re arguing with a senior citizen who can blaze a 10k in under 40 minutes. That’s 6:25 a mile for 6.2 miles at age 62.

Caballo’s girlfriend, the Apache Butterfly, helped design this beautiful race poster for next year’s Caballo Blanco Ultramarathon. (I’m betting right now the tattoo artist at Coyote’s Born to Run race is going to face heavy demand for that design).
To top it off, Maria then grabbed a’hold of the same burro that Caballo ran with last year in Leadville’s Boom Days race … and finished in eighth place, same as he did. “I felt his spirit with us along Mosquito Pass,” she writes.
The 11th Caballo Blanco Ultra, in March 2013.

PS — Why does it hurt so much when you stub your toe, way more than the damage done? Barefoot Ken Bob explains, at about 3:10

Dr. Lieberman, Harvard’s “Barefoot Professor,” breaks it down to 5 easy tips:

And to put it all together, I still haven’t found anything better than the 100 Up.

Here’s Alberto Salazar, coach of America’s new Olympic silver medalist, Galen Rupp, putting it into action:

“Born to Run” was just featured in the new THNKR series. Fascinating to watch a podiatrist on the verge of changing his thinking before your eyes…

That’s what the British Medical Journal and the BBC found in a study aired last week when they looked into the “science” behind running shoes and sports drinks.

Puma, for instance, claims its running shoes are “designed to… minimise injury, optimise comfort and maximize speed.”
But when investigators asked for evidence?

Puma declined to provide his research team with any studies to prove that their shoes can deliver on those claims.

Oddly, American media keeps missing this story. Over the past three years, they’ve been giving a pass to what is arguably a multi-billion dollar case of consumer fraud. HBO Real Sports is the only media source in the U.S. that has ever revealed that running shoes are likely doing more harm than good.

Among the prizes this Sunday at the Mt.A 5k — “The World’s Friendliest Footrace,” as certified by Jenn Shelton, also the race director — is Queen of the Climb:

At an undisclosed point during the first half mile of the Mount A 5K–America’s Friendliest 5K– race course, there will be a cow bell hanging from a pole.
The first overall female and male to ring the bell will be crowned QUEEN (or KING) OF THE CLIMB and win a free jacket from Patagonia, the title sponsor of Mount A 5K –America’s Friendliest 5K.
Don’t forget to shoot out of the gates, only one lady knows where the bell will be placed, and she’s not talking without an extensive belly rub and four jelly doughnuts.

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction. — Einstein

By this time next year, I’m betting the newest footwear sensation will be the oldest: huaraches, the one shoe that has been in action since the beginning of time.

Lash-on sandals were worn by ancient Greek messengers, Roman Centurions, Tibetan monks, and Hopi braves, and they’re still the go-to shoe for Tarahumara Indians. Even when they were given new running shoes at the Leadville Trail 100 in 1994, the Tarahumara slipped right back into their homemade huaraches as soon as they got the chance — and won.
Barefoot Ted learned the art of huarache-making from Manuel Luna, a Tarahumara elder who took Ted under his wing while we were down in the canyons. When Ted got home, he remained true to traditional design but began tinkering with materials. Instead of the leather straps and discarded tires the Tarahumara use, Ted found rubber compounds that were just as tough but dramatically thinner. He also unearthed an out-of-production elasticized cord that vastly improved lacing. For some models, he also layered on a leather insole that softens like a baseball glove. As a finishing touch, he named them after his mentor: Luna sandals.

Inspired by Ted’s experiments, other backroom inventors have added their own twists to the ancient design, launching the greatest burst of innovation the huarache has seen in 3,000 years. Branca Barefoot created a clever pair of side-loops that allow you to simply tie your sandals like regular shoes. Unshoes got rid of tying altogether by deploying the same cinching strap you find on a bike helmet. Over at Invisible Shoe, they’ve created a sole that’s thick enough for jagged stones yet pliable enough to roll up and stick in your pocket. Ozark Sandals dealt head-on with three huarache drawbacks—the toe strap, rubber feel, and dull appearance—by coming up with a durable rope sole in Popsicle colors held on by soft cord webbing (my wife has lived in hers all summer and only changes them to rotate colors).

Right before Barefoot Ted ran Leadville last summer, he presented me with a pair of Lunas which I threw under my bed as soon as he wasn’t looking. I was supposed to pace Ted for the last stretch at two in the morning, and no way was I running rocky trails in the dark in those things. But just to be polite, I decided I’d strap them on for a few yards and then swap them out for some real shoes. When we crossed the finish line four hours later, they were still on my feet. I didn’t have a single blister, bruise or stubbed toe.

Questions? All answered by Barefoot in Az