Kick off Your Shoes and Learn How to Run Barefoot

Highlands Ranch, CO, September 9, 2011 – Kick off your shoes with Scott Jones, local exercise physiologist and co-founder of The Merrell Naked Foot 5K, for an interactive barefoot running clinic at the Highlands Ranch Library on Thursday, September 15 at 7:00 p.m.

All runners are invited to attend and learn how to incorporate barefoot running into their training regimen. The principles learned in this interactive clinic will also help shod runners run with better form and fewer injuries. Jones doesn’t expect everyone to run barefoot all the time – he doesn’t.

“It’s not about the barefoot movement,” Jones said. “It’s about the movement movement.”

Yes, this clinic is interactive so be prepared to move a little. Jones will also discuss barefoot running literature, including the book Born to Run, and answer questions about minimalist footwear.

Participants can use their newly learned techniques at The Merrell Naked Foot 5K on Sunday, September 18 at Redstone Park in Highlands Ranch, CO. Part of the first-ever national barefoot race series, this 5K challenges runners to run barefoot or test their shod technique against barefoot runners, adding a level of competition and making an effort to earn the respect of the running community.

“Besides injury prevention, aren’t we preaching how we are running smoother and faster bare?” Jones said. “If runners start going bare more often and we start seeing respectable times, this ‘trend’ will take off even more than it has due to the prevention pitch we have been giving in every lecture, clinic and blog around. So let’s embrace shod runners at these events and challenge them down the home stretch. That in the end is the difference in asking for respect and earning it.”

Register online for the Highlands Ranch Naked Foot 5K or learn more about the benefits of barefoot running at www.thenakedfoot5k.com.

In addition to the 5K, the event includes activities for the entire family: a free kids fun run, one-mile race, foot massages, foot painting, Tarahumara barefoot games, green/healthy living vendors, prizes and more. On the day of each event, The Merrell Naked Foot 5K will be collecting gently worn footwear and donations for Soles4Souls.

These donations will be shipped to victims of natural disasters or people living in extreme poverty. It is estimated that Americans have 1.5 billion pairs of unused shoes lying in their closets.

“We can use the shoes taking up space in your closet to change the world one pair at a time,” said Wayne Elsy, Founder and CEO of Soles4Souls. “We need our partners across the U.S. to 'STEP UP' and get behind our call for action. It’s one of the simplest yet most profound gifts you can make, because it will greatly improve someone’s life in the most difficult of times.”

About Soles4Souls®

Soles4Souls is a Nashville-based 501(c)(3) charity that collects and distributes shoes to people in need. Since 2005, Soles4Souls has distributed more than 5.5 million pairs of new and gently worn shoes and is currently donating one pair every nine seconds. These shoes have been distributed to people in more than 125 countries including Kenya, Thailand and the United States. Visit www.giveshoes.org for more information.

About The Merrell Naked Foot 5K

Scott and Lauren Jones founded The Merrell Naked Foot 5K, the first national barefoot running series, in an effort to create a unique event to make people curious. As “barefoot moderates,” they run about ten percent of their weekly training miles barefoot because they love the feel and the impact it has on their form and strength, but recognize that there is a time and a place for a good pair of shoes. Scott is an exercise physiologist and former collegiate athlete. Lauren earned her degree in exercise science. As a result, they understand the biomechanics of running and how barefoot running can help improve running form and prevent common running ailments.

For more information on The Merrell Naked Foot 5K, please contact Lauren Jones at barefootracing@gmail.com.