By Nicholas Yong
Some runners extol the benefits of barefoot running but doctors advise a slow transition
Sticks and stones may break his bones but broken glass does not seem to hurt software engineer Pua Lip Seng. He has been running without shoes for so long, he can now tread on broken glass almost without hurting himself.
'I have stepped on broken glass while running, but the skin of my soles has thickened so much, the shards of glass could not really penetrate my feet,' says the 39-year-old, whose blog is titled Barefoot Pua.
The avid runner covers at least 8km barefoot almost every day and, last Thursday, he competed in the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge, a 5km road race, in similar au naturel fashion. Next month, he plans to run the Kuala Lumpur Marathon - without footwear, of course. It will not be his first full marathon sans shoes. He first did it last year at the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon.
Although Zola Budd, a South Africa-born champion runner, broke 5,000m world records running on bare feet in the 1980s, Mr Pua decided to abandon shoes only in 2008 when he saw a man in his 60s run a marathon barefoot and cross the finish line in a decent time of six hours. The plucky sexagenarian inspired him to research the practice and he discovered that there was a large barefoot-running movement in the United States. He gave it a try and has not looked back since.
Proponents say that barefoot running leads to a more natural running posture where the runner lands on his forefoot and reduces the risk of chronic injuries, notably repetitive stress injuries, due to the impact of heel-striking in padded running shoes.
Runners such as Mr Pua and engineer Clarence Yap, 38, say that running barefoot has helped reduce or eliminate the chronic pains that they often feel in their knees due to their training regimen.
Doctors whom LifeStyle spoke to say medical evidence about the benefits of barefoot running is not conclusive. 'Some studies have found decreased impact forces with a barefoot running technique, although it is unclear about the actual benefit to runners. It is possible that this may decrease chronic injuries,' says Dr Tan Ken Jin, an orthopaedic surgeon at the National University Hospital.
Another orthopaedic surgeon, Raffles Hospital's Dr Lim Lian Arn, notes: 'Instead of a jarring effect on landing with heel running, barefoot runners land on the front of their feet and video motion analysis seems to have proven some of these claims of the benefits of barefoot running.'
Barefoot running is not without its drawbacks, though. Besides the obvious risk of suffering cuts and abrasions on the soles, barefoot runners tell LifeStyle that they experienced pains in their tendons, ankles and calves when they first started.
According to Mr Pua, this is because the muscles used for barefoot running are slightly different from regular running. He says: 'My ankles were protected by shoes for 30 years, so the muscles there were very weak. I felt pain in the ankles, the top of the feet and the arch as well, but once the pain went away, it didn't come back.'
Both doctors and runners advise a gradual transition to barefoot running. Dr Tan says runners should use running shoes with thinner, more flexible soles before going barefoot.
He adds: 'Choosing an appropriate running surface and performing stretching exercises concentrating on the calf muscles would also be a good idea.'
Dr Lim adds that barefoot runners seldom truly go barefoot. Most wear some form of minimal sole protection, such as the Vibram FiveFingers, which resembles a toe sock but has a very tough layer of carbonised rubber on the bottom. It claims, among other things, to promote a natural walking motion and reduce impact on the knees, hips and lower back.
A spokesman for Innovatez, the local distributor of Vibram, says it has sold a few thousand pairs of FiveFingers since its launch here last June. A pair costs between $159 and $249.
One FiveFingers convert is Mr Lau Wai Ming, 32, who wears the shoes for 5km runs up to four times a week. The former lawyer, who is currently between jobs, says the pains in his back and ankles have gone since he started wearing them.
'It is liberating to be able to run without pain. I even did my physical fitness test for the army in them.' | 
