I read a book called Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, advertised on its cover as “The hidden tribe, the ultra-runners, and the greatest race the world has never seen,” and it made me want to run. I did some research about running shoes, got interested in the whole debate about big shoes versus minimal shoes, and made a decision about which side of the fence I was on – which turned out to be the the barely shod/unshod side. Barefoot Ken Bob’s site is one I came across in my research. He’s completed 78 marathons, 77 barefoot, and is a pragmatist with some pretty sound advice if you’re interested in any type of running, shod or not.