Living Barefoot | Todd Ragsdale endures The agony of the feet

Search

// you’re reading...

Barefoot & Minimalist News

Todd Ragsdale endures The agony of the feet | MailTribune.com

By Al Gauthier ⋅ June 8, 2010 ⋅

This article was originally published on http://www.mailtribune.com

Todd Ragsdale endures The agony of the feet | MailTribune.com: “By Anita Burke Mail Tribune A peppermint mineral foot soak and a sense of personal satisfaction both felt pretty good to Talent runner Todd Ragsdale on Monday as he relaxed at home after running a world-record distance without shoes over the weekend.

Between 8 a.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. Sunday, the 41-year-old logged 102 miles — 413 laps on the South Medford High School track — barefoot.

Ragsdale made his run in the Relay For Life fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, running as part of a team fielded by the north Medford Fred Meyer store.

‘It was a really cool event and a humbling place to do this,’ he said, adding that his struggle was less than that facing those battling cancer.

Running barefoot left his feet ‘swollen up like elephant feet,’ he said.

‘I have blisters and soreness and I had some bruises, but they’re pretty much lost in the swelling now,’ Ragsdale said.

An avid runner who has won the Crater Lake Marathon in the past, Ragsdale had run barefoot to build strength and tune his stride, but in January started toughening up his feet so he could cover serious distances sans shoes.

He stood, marched and jogged in a tray of gravel in his living room, and ran his first race barefoot in April — the Bridge The Gap 10-kilometer run on the Bear Creek Greenway — finishing just seconds slower than previous runs in shoes.

At the Medford Relay for Life he made his move on the Guinness World Record for distance run barefoot in 24-hours — 90.6 miles.

He reached that goal shortly after 3 a.m. Sunday with friends, family and fans cheering. A local television crew documented the moment to help provide the verification Ragsdale will need to submit to record keepers. He also has other videos, witness statements and logs of the miles and hours he put in, all ready to be sent in for review by Guinness officials.

The emotional high of knowing that he had reached the record sustained him for about another hour, but at roughly mile 93, the pain hit.

‘My feet broke down,’ Ragsdale said. ‘They were done running.’

Although his pace slowed, he kept moving for another four hours, to push his total 12 miles higher than the existing record.

‘I know I did it and that’s really satisfying,’ he said, noting that people who cared about him and the record were at the track with him.

While recognition in the record books might be coming from this feat of the feet, Ragsdale is eyeing an even tougher goal — running shoeless in the Williams-to-Ashland ‘Pine to Palm’ 100-mile trail race in September.

‘I said I would do 100 miles,’ he said. ‘A part of me wonders if it is physiologically possible, but I would like to try it on the gravel-strewn forest roads.’

Reach reporter Anita Burke at 541-776-4485 or e-mail [email protected]”

(Read the full article / article originally published on: .)

Original Article can be found here: http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100608/NEWS/6080317

Buy Vibram FiveFingers at these quality online retailers:

___________________________________________________________________________

About Living Barefoot Reviews:

As you read our reviews, please keep in mind that our reviewers review shoes in terms of their suitability for those looking to find the highest quality minimalist shoe products. All reviews are as factual as possible. In an effort to be transparent and ethical, we will point out any defects found, even if these do not affect the usability of the product. Not all defects will be present in final production shoes as we are sometimes offered “seconds” or pre-release products in an effort to provide you with reviews in a timely manor. In the event that serious issues are found with a review sample we will give every opportunity for the manufacturer to replace to explain the review samples before the final review is released. We never accept payments for reviews. We do not guarantee a good review for any products sent to us. We do not review products that do not claim to be minimalist or “barefoot like” unless we receive a significant number of requests from readers or listeners.

Should you have any questions about our review process or would like your product reviewed on our site, please do not hesitate to contact us using our contact page.

___________________________________________________________________________

Featured Interview: Christopher McDougall – Author of Born to Run

Listen HERE

Christopher McDougall is a well-spoken, humble man who has through the popularity of his book brought about some of the biggest changes in the perception of feet and running in recent years. Join us in learning about how this talented author wrote his book, discovered his feet, and how he feels about barefooting and running. This interview should not be missed.

We Talk about:

- Chris’s recent appearance at the TED Conference

- Thoughts on Interviews In General

- His first exposure to barefoot running

- How he came to find the Tarahumara while on assignment for the New York Times.

- He thoughts on his influence over barefoot running and ultra running

- How he struggled with writing Born to Run

- This thoughts on minimalist shoes

- And much more!

To learn more about Christopher McDougall visit his website: http://chrismcdougall.com

Buy His Book: Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
Download the Audible Audiobook

Find “Living Barefoot” in iTunes and download it onto your iPod / iPhone or listen online

___________________________________________________________________________

Keep Yourself Connected:

Subscribe to our Twitter Feed, Listen to or download our Podcasts, subscribe to our RSS feed, or Subscribe to our email updates.

___________________________________________________________________________

Recent Minimalist Shoe Reviews:

Stay updated by being notified when we release a new reviews. Subscribe Here.

___________________________________________________________________________

Give us your support!

As Living Barefoot continues to grow our costs keep increasing. In order to cover the many costs necessary to provide our readers and listeners with the great quality reviews and content on Living Barefoot we would like to request your help.

If you like what we are doing, we are asking for a tiny contribution to show your support. We guarantee you won’t notice the missing contribution, but if enough people participate, it can be a significant contribution to help continue to innovate and bring you great reviews, news, and personalities through the Living Barefoot Show.

What will we do in return? We’ll continue to offer you great free news, reviews, and guest interviews on our show. We will also decrease the amount of advertising on our site as subscriptions increase.

Donate as little as $1 monthly. The subscription will simply deduct $1 from your bank or credit card monthly. You can cancel the automatic withdrawal at any time. You won’t notice $1, but we will!