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First Marathon in Vibram Five Fingers KSOs

After doing no marathon training, Chris recently ran his first marathon in Vibram Five Fingers KSOs and finished with a darn good time. You may remember Chris from when he ran the Baltimore Half Marathon with Bien. Here’s what he sent us about running th…

After doing no marathon training, Chris recently ran his first marathon in Vibram Five Fingers KSOs and finished with a darn good time. You may remember Chris from when he ran the Baltimore Half Marathon with Bien. Here’s what he sent us about running the marathon:

Recently, I ran and completed my first marathon. I only signed up a few weeks before the race in a moment of insanity, but it actually went pretty well. I’ve done two half marathons and a 10-mile race in the past few years, but I have not done any running specific training in 12 months and I’ve been doing Crossfit Strength Bias (CFSB) since December 2009. I did a few 5-6 mile runs to prepare for my 10 miler last April, but since then I have only done two 3 mile runs and one 4 mile run, in addition to occasional 400m, 800m, or short sprint work in keeping with the CFSB metcon standards.

Clearly, I had not done any specific training for the marathon whatsoever. I finished in 4:26 which isn’t setting any records, but is great for my level of prep. I ran in my VFFs and only took in water and my own coconut water based iskiate recipe on course, as well as two Larabars and some salt packets. Pre and post race food was all paleo as well, except for one scoop of whey in my pre-race shake.

One week later I was pretty much fully recovered. My left hip flexor was quite sore for the first 24 hours, but it’s back to normal now. Feet had a couple blisters, but did not hurt after the first couple hours. The only remaining issue is some soreness at the bottom of my left Achilles where it attaches to my heel. I felt that start to get aggravated during some of the final hills but it’s almost totally better now. I can tell that my strength is not back 100%, but I was back in the weight room by the following week.

If anyone would like more details on my nutrition strategy or race details please just let me know.

What a great showing! While we certainly warn against anyone trying this, it is an amazing feat. Congratulations, Chris!

By Britt

Hailing from College Station, Texas (Home to Texas A&M!), I grew up running cross country. Believe it or not, I gave Justin the name for this site back in early 2009 but I didn't jump on the toe shoes bandwagon until a year later. I am also really into quadcopters and drones and have a blog called OddCopter.com.

8 replies on “First Marathon in Vibram Five Fingers KSOs”

Seems he is wearing Injinji socks. I gave up running in my Sprints this past summer because of the blisters and callouses they caused on longer runs.

I now run about 5-7 miles a week barefoot, 6-10 in Sprints with socks and another 8-22 with Bakilas, depending on my mood for the weekend run.

Anyone use Classics, Sprints or KSOs for runs over 5mi without socks? The seams on those models are too pronounced for me and cause blistering.

No such issue with Bakilas or KSO Treks, which have much smaller seams.

Nice finish! I would never dare to attempt a marathon with the training you did 🙂 I don’t think my body or mind would like the results… I recently didn’t even do a half-marathon because I felt undertrained and didn’t want to risk an overuse/overtraining injury.

@Ed: I joggle (run and juggle) in my KSO’s every time without socks. Sometimes in the winter I’ll use injinji’s just for warmth, but overall I’ve had great results from KSO’s as far as blister prevention. The classics gave me heel blisters…

Thanks Chris.

I am headed back to TN to spend thanksgiving with the family and have packed light – 4 pair of VFF’s and no regular shoes. Mocs for travel, Classics for most things in and around town, and Sprints with Injinji socks for my running.

And just in case the weather turns foul or cool, KSO treks.

Decided to leave the Bakilas at home because I won’t be doing super long runs (for me) and wasn’t sure I could convince the wife to let me travel with them. The stank that has taken up residence in them is a difficult guest to evict.

Great post! I have been doing Crossfit Endurance for the past few months and am loving it! It’s really making me a better all around athlete. Your story is great and just goes to show you don’t have to run tons of miles to race marathons.

Hi Chris,

I will like to know more about your nutrition strategy and race detail. As i will like to attempt my first marathon soon:)

I too would be interested in any nutritional information you could share as I will be running my first half marathon in December. Thanks!!!!

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