The Naked Tour – About the Events

The Naked Tour will consist of events across the country, including:

1. Naked Demos: You’ll be re-introduced to nature’s original product line and shown the way humans have run swiftly, lightly, and safely for two million years. You’ll be invited to hop on a treadmill and learn how to turn back time and transform from the heavy heel-clompers we’ve become back into the nimble forefoot strikers we were as kids.

Naked Demos will be led by such experts as Lee Saxby and Eric Orton, and hopefully transform you as much as this guy. See the events listing to find out which venues will have a Naked Demo and where they’ll be conducted.

2. Naked Runs: Where you’ll be encouraged to actually feel the planet beneath your feet. But what you wear is your own business — Naked Runs are all about form, not footwear. Come barefoot, nearly-barefoot, or fully shod and barefoot curious. Run as fast as you like or as comfortably as you please, and even design your own distance: Naked Runs will by synced by pace and length, so you can either tackle the whole tamale (like all 32 miles around Manhattan for Naked NYC), or something more fun-size.

The No. 1 question most people have about natural-style running is “Where can I learn?” Here’s your chance. Naked Runs are an opportunity to take your reawakened feet, and maybe your new minimalist footwear, out on the street for a spin. Naked Runs will be conducted much like our Barefoot Harlem to Brooklyn Run last August. That’s another way of saying, “Show up, don’t stress, and remember Caballo’s motto: First focus on easy, ’cause if that’s all you get, that ain’t so bad.” You’ll be surrounded by lots of other people who are out for a good time and just getting the hang of minimalism. Each city will have its own run format, but here are the basics:

• Absolutely everyone is welcome
• Run anywhere from 10 feet to 10 miles. The goal is to learn from each other, not beat each other, so we’ll stagger the start by pace groups. Each group will be led by an experienced pacer, like Scott Jurek or Eric Orton, so you’ll get the chance to pepper them with questions and mimic their style while you run.
• Runs will end with a Q&A session and BYOBreakfast chow-down.

1st Naked Run: Harlem To Brooklyn, Aug. 2010

3. Naked Cabarets: Modeled after the “Running Reinvented” Cabaret we staged to a packed house just before the New York City Marathon, but with fresh acts, new tattoos, just as much hula, and way more street action. I’ll be joined on stage by some of the groundbreaking scientists, coaches, and outright characters who shaped Born to Run. Casts will change from place to place, but include …

  • Scott Jurek: The ultra-god who has won just about every really hard race in the world on a vegan diet.

    • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjIOs70gLiw

  • Dr. Daniel Lieberman: Harvard’s “Barefoot Professor” and a key thinker behind “The Running Man” theory of human evolution.

  • Eric Orton: The coach who proved it’s possible to transform a defeated, busted-down ex-runner into an ultramarathoner in just nine months.
  • Lee Saxby: The magician who has mastered the art of teaching barefoot running.

  • Dr. Irene Davis: The sports medicine and biomechanics expert who’s at the cutting edge of “natural running” re-training (“If your feet are sound enough to be able to run in shoes,” Dr. Davis says, “you should be able to run without them”).
  • Marshall Lewy: The screenwriter working with actor and debut director Peter Sarsgaard to adapt Born to Run for the screen.
  • Luis “El Coyote” Escobar: The adventure photographer who captured the only expedition photos from “The Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen.”
     

    The Coyote, the best shooter in the ultrarunning game.

  • Sunny Blende: The ace race nutritionist, elite Masters athlete, and best friend a bonking runner will ever have
  • John Durant:

    Fresh from his star-turn on The Colbert Report and a national leader of hunter-gatherer athleticism, Durant recently attracted a gigantic international turnout for the First Annual New York Barefoot Run on Governor’s Island. Watch a clip from his appearance on The Colbert Report as well as a backstage exclusive.

 

Any chance Jake Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard will show up?
Who knows? Runners weren’t counting on Jake showing up at the starting line of the Leadville Trail 100 last summer. Peter was magnificent enough to fly in from London for the Running Reinvented Cabaret, and this guy certainly didn’t count on running into him at a tiny trail race in the middle of Pennsylvania:

Back at Holtwood Park, I’d noticed one of the other participants and felt certain that I recognized him. As Chris and I attempted to move a little closer to the front of the pack ahead of the starting gun, I ended up situated just in front of this stranger and decided to risk making a fool of myself.
“I recognize that this is going to be a really weird question if your answer is anything but ‘yes’, but are you Peter Sarsgaard?” A wide grin accompanied the “yes, I am” that came back as the response. I offered a “well, welcome to Pennsylvania” to the well-respected and accomplished actor but refrained from any further pestering.