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“Barefoot Paul” Competes at the World Mountain Running Championships in KSO Treks

In 2010, “Barefoot Paul” Peterson excelled at mountain running qualifying for the Men’s US Mountain Running Junior Team and competing at the World Championships in Slovenia. His success running in Vibram Five Fingers is truly amazing! Read Paul’s recap h…

In 2010, “Barefoot Paul” Peterson excelled at mountain running qualifying for the Men’s US Mountain Running Junior Team and competing at the World Championships in Slovenia. His success running in Vibram Five Fingers is truly amazing! Read Paul’s recap of his season and why he prefers Five Fingers after the jump.

Barefoot Paul running in the Barr Trail Mountain Race. Cool Shirt!

Hi! My name is Paul Petersen, I’m 18, and just competed in the World Mountain Running Championships in Kamnik, Slovenia on the US Mountain Running Junior Team, and placed 41st overall all while wearing my KSO Treks. My journey began in the Vibrams in June, when I competed in the Mount Washington Road Race, and won my age group in a time of 1:14:30. I continued my journey running in the Vail Hill Climb, placing 16th overall, followed by the Barr Trail Mountain Race, where I placed 20th overall in the KSO treks.

I continued to run the Eldora Trail 11k in Sprints (KSOs had a defect) and placed 5th overall. My summer season ended with the 26th World mountain running championships in Kamnik, Slovenia, where I placed 41st overall.

I first took off my shoes 1 year ago, and fell in love with the feel. I had no pressing physical conditions, I just chose to run the way my feet and body felt most comfortable with. Especially for trail running, Vibrams have allowed me to carry on this barefoot style of running on literally any surface. People constantly ask me, “Do your feet hurt?” and “Don’t the rocks hurt when you step on them?” And at first my answer was yes, of course it hurts. But over time, my feet got stronger, and every rock I went over was just another part of the course, not an obstacle. Running trails in the Vibrams connects you with the earth, your foot molding and morphing to every pebble and branch for the most intimate running experience possible. I’m on a mission to prove that barefoot running isn’t just a fad promoted by a funky looking shoe, but a true alternative to shod running that is capable of producing competitive results. Thanks for your time!

Paul Petersen
aka Barefoot Paul

Paul, thanks for sending in your story. Congrats on your awesome finishes and we applaud your work spreading the message about barefoot style running.

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.

2 replies on ““Barefoot Paul” Competes at the World Mountain Running Championships in KSO Treks”

This is pretty awesome. Not only is this kid a total stud who is doing really well in hill and trail competitions, he’s doing it in VFFs.

I’m not saying running this way is for everybody, but seeing somebody on a U.S. team running barefoot and in VFFs does provide validation for barefoot/minimalist running.

I wonder if he got any pressure from the U.S. team and/or coaches to wear traditional trail racing shoes.

I am really happy to see this story. I just ran my first Ultra Trail Marathon of 40 miles in Virginia on September 20 called the Odyssey Trail Running Rampage wearing my VFF Trek Sports. The VFFs got me to the point of not having IT band, lost toe nails or horrible blisters anymore, so I decided I would push it to the my first Ultra rather than wear my minimalist La Sportiva trail shoes. I placed 4th in the race, but the bigger accomplishment to me was doing it in VFFs and showing it can be done.

After the race, my feet are a bit sore and achy, but I definitely think they are getting stronger and more capable of handle the tough nature of the trails. I am a bit disappointed because it was only the third time I wore the Trek Sports, and both big toes ripped on me. On the left foot, a rip busted open along the anti-rip protector, and on the right foot, the seam broke open on the big toes. Fortunately, I brought duct tape with me to patch up my wounds and my shoes. I really hope VFF helps me with their 90 day warranty since I have had these less than 1 month.

VFFs are getting pushed into every sport and extreme. I really hope they just come out with a trail version that has full rubber coverage on the big toe and maybe others. These shoes will be everything I need if only they didn’t get destroyed in just one race. Regardless, I am thrilled to have worn these on my race and hope to do it for my 50 miler in November

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