An ultra a day

After running halfway across America nonstop and averaging a solid 50k a day, 64-year-old Yijoo Kwon is feeling the consequences: he’s getting faster. He’s now almost out of Kansas and bearing down hard on Missouri. If you can meet him for a few miles, you’ll make his day and have a great story for the…

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Dr. Runner’s World and Mr. Hyde

What a delight to see that Runner’s World got rid of the “Sports Doc” who made the embarrassing, fearmongering comments about running shoes, and replaced him with a guy who makes it his first order of business to pen one of the most poised, knowledgeable and honest appraisals of barefoot running I’ve ever read. Oddly, or…

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Talk about born broken…

“If everybody stopped wearing shoes from the moment they are born, maybe it would be an easier transition, but right now, for someone to transition all of a sudden to doing barefoot running, I don’t think it’s a good idea.” —Dr. Michael Lacy, podiatrist. I guess in Indiana, they’re pulling newborns out by the laces.…

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Memorial Day 5k, West Chester, PA

Back in 2006, I spent a long, hot day and night in the Vermont woods with Billy Bonehead as we crewed for Jenn Shelton in the Vermont 100. One of the best parts of that race (apart from running under the stars with Bonehead and Brujita for the last 25-plus miles) was vagabonding from aid…

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“What the heck happened to his ear?”

While watching this video of Barefoot Tim doing his thing, I was struck by the way he embodied Coach Eric Orton’s observation that Tarahumara runners move down-and-up, not up-and-down like the rest of us. I was keeping an eye on Tim’s ear at the top of the frame to check this out. All of a…

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Yijoo Kwon, super stud

In 1996, Yijoo Kwon faced a choice: get in shape, get injections, or die. He was 50 years old and had just been diagnosed with diabetes. But rather than opting for insulin injections, Yijoo began running. At an age when most men are giving up on exercise, Yijoo rapidly trimmed off weight, got his blood…

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