Ken Bob’s Nor’easter Plus Tour (2013)

The Business of Running

My goals as a barefoot running guru are the same as any business that is interested in helping runners and walkers, and helping others who do not run, begin running or walking, without hurting themselves or becoming discouraged.

I’m pretty certain that most people in our society will wear footwear for running and walking most of the time (especially in the winters in the Nor’east). My concern is not whether people become dedicated followers of barefoot running, or want to wear shoes part or even most of the time. I’m concerned with the hundreds of millions of people in the U.S.A. and other countries who almost never run or walk because they think it’s boring, it hurts, it’s too much work, or not much fun.

These are the perceptions I’m seeking to change (they are only true when we run badly). And this quantum shift in the way people view running is going to bring many of those folks to running specialty, and athletic stores, particularly those stores that have demonstrated that their business is primarily focused on helping runners figure out how to run better and more enjoyably, by hosting informative presentations by folks like myself, whose primary concern is eliminating the epidemic of running injuries and chronic pains suffered by most runners, and even more, the fact that so many people are not running or walking at all!

Videos

HELP! … Help Ken Bob Organize this CRAZY Thing.

These events are FREE, only because of help from local volunteers!

If you’re in an area near one of Ken Bob’s CONFIRMED events, you can help by using the flyer (at right—>) to help publicize (tastefully – do not litter) – don’t forget to fill in the Date, Time, Venue Location, and address!

If you do help out, let me know if you want your business or charity logo to be listed below to help you get more publicity (unless of course you don’t want to be publicly associated with this adventure).

Sponsors, Volunteers, and Friends .. Oh my!

Anyone crazy enough to help out on this tour, deserves the following fate ; you, your business, or charity will be listed here as a sponsor of this tour, unless you don’t want to be associated with Barefoot Ken Bob, this tour, or The Original Running Barefoot website, in which case, all I can give is my thanks for helping. Thanks for helping!

I don’t run. Can I still attend?

My goal is NOT to convert all runners to barefoot runners. In fact, I’m way more interested in converting the hundreds of millions of non-walkers (just in the USA) into walkers, than with convincing those who are already running that running barefoot will help them run better – and I am interested in convincing those who are already running that barefoot running will help them run better!

As far as I’m concerned, the only technical distinction between walking and running is flight. We are walking, if one or the other of our feet are always in contact with the ground. We are running if both feet are off the ground for part of our stride. This differentiation is independent of speed. I sometimes need to run to keep up with a person walking, and some runners are often passed by people walking. When I talk about “Running Barefoot” that is by default inclusive of “Walking Barefoot”. At some point in our lives, or during a “run”, especially if we are lucky enough to have a long healthy life, we will all be walking instead of running. So, yes, I like to believe that these events will help people walk more gracefully!

THE PRESENTATION

How to Move Forward without Breaking your Feet or other Body Parts – EVEN in ‘barefoot shoes’!

The goal of these FREE presentations is to help people (especially adults) understand how and why being barefoot can help people teach themselves how to run and/or walk more gently, efficiently, and gracefully through PLAY and the use of the good senses we have been blessed with in, among other places, the soles of our feet.

The idea is that when people learn to walk and run efficiently there will be less injurious stresses and strains on the entire body. More importantly, using their own good senses, they can adapt to changes in terrain, the environment, and even their own bodies (as they get injured, heal, grow, age, etc.)

For decades Barefoot Ken Bob has encountered many people who believed running barefoot was all about tensing the calves and running up on the fore-foot, and building up the strength in the calves and feet so they could run this way. And a very few dedicated athletes may be able to successfully survive putting this much strain on the calves, Achilles tendons, and metatarsals (though I know very few personally). But most of us, who should be running a few miles, a few times a week, to maintain our health just don’t want/need to dedicate our lives to having the strongest feet and calves in the world.

And that’s okay, Barefoot Ken Bob Saxton will help you understand how to figure out how to teach yourselves how to run gently, efficiently, and gracefully. Not only will you be able to build up (still somewhat gradually) to running further and faster, sooner, in a way that puts less stress and strain on the body, which should result in fewer injuries (and it has for thousands of people who have for decades, studied The Original Running Barefoot website, attended Ken Bob’s Play-Fun-Shops, Presentations, Seminars, and/or read “Barefoot Running Step by Step” (2011 – co-authored with Roy M. Wallack)

One goal of Ken Bob’s Running Barefoot Presentations and Play-Fun-Shops is to teach a few basic techniques which most successful runners seem to share (and by successful, I mean people who are not constantly injured from running). The main goal is to help people understand why barefoot running helps us learn and improve, potentially with each and every step, so that we can adapt the way we move, as our bodies grow, get injured, heal, age, and otherwise change, so that we may continue improving the way we move more safely, efficiently, and gracefully for a lifetime.

We are able to do hold these presentations thanks to the retail stores and establishments who are willing to host us, and they are often willing to host us as these types of presentations draw potential customers to their store. My goal, besides helping people figure out how not to injure themselves from walking or running, is to sell more books, get invited to speak (for a fee) at seminars around the world, and lure more traffic to my website.

Time permitting, I will also offer other health tips for lazy people like myself.

KEN BOB’S RUNNING BAREFOOT PLAY-FUN-SHOPS!

(because “workshop” sounds too much like work, and “clinic” sounds too clinical)

How to Move Forward without Breaking your Feet or other Body Parts – EVEN in “barefoot shoes”!

The goal of Ken Bob’s FREE Play-Fun-Shops is to help people (especially adults)  learn how to teach themselves how to run and/or walk more gently, efficiently, and gracefully through PLAY and the use of the good senses we have been blessed with in, among other places, the soles of our feet.

These are FREE and a simple alternative to the more elaborate multimedia presentation and book-signing generally held inside retail stores, libraries, etc.. Ken Bob generally holds his Play-Fun-Shops outdoors at a public park or similar area – just Ken Bob, an (8’x8’) canopy (enough for a small group to huddle while not out running, walking, or playing in the rain) and his 11-year-old dog, Psycho Herman, who may (if he feels like it) do his infamous “roll-over” trick, which is probably the most entertaining and spell-binding part of this event!

Attendance is typically 4-10 attendees, except in larger venues, like New York City, where I once had 50 attendees at an event in Central Park in 2010.

Because I do not have a retail sales license for your area, I will NOT sell any books at events held in public parks. However, I will auto-foot-print-graph your copies of Barefoot Running Step by Step, and raffle off at least one free copy.

These Play-Fun-Shops are not profitable for me, but they cost little to hold, other than travel expenses (which I hope to make up by selling books at multimedia presentations in other cities). My goal, besides helping people figure out how not to injure themselves from walking or running, is to sell more books, get invited to speak (for fees) at seminars around the world, and lure more traffic to my website.

Raffle

Oh yeah, did I mention, there’ll be a raffle?

Well there will be a raffle at each event! First prize (at each event) is a copy of Barefoot Running Step by Step (auto-foot-print-graphed by Ken Bob – and maybe Herman, if he feels like it), and maybe an old race T-shirts (or 2). Don’t feel too bad about taking the shirt off my back – I have completed more than 400 races barefoot and most of them handed out T-shirts – PLEASE DO take a shirt!

Must be present at time of raffle to win.

BOOK SIGNING:

“Barefoot Running Step by Step: Barefoot Ken Bob, the Guru of Shoeless Running, Shares His Personal Technique for Running with More Speed, Less Impact, Fewer Injuries and More Fun”

Co-authored by Roy M. Wallack, and myself (Barefoot Ken Bob Saxton), available at many bookstores, and online.

I will also be happy to auto-foot-print-graph your copy of Barefoot Running Step by Step. If we have an indoor venue, I can also sell you a copy – for those who don’t already own a hard-copy (paperback) of Barefoot Running Step by Step (BUY MY BOOK!)

WARNING! I’m charging $20 a copy! The book is available for MUCH less at Amazon. AND if you follow any of the links on this page to BUY MY BOOK!! I make a small percentage in addition to my usual royalty (and I don’t need to carry as many books on the tour)… But, if people want to pay $20 to BUY MY BOOK! from me in person, I’ll make a few dollars more which would help pay for my travel.

IS THERE MORE???

• Psycho Herman will demonstrate his wonderful “rolling over” trick (at dog-friendly venues)
• Barefoot Running techniques, Play-Fun-Drills
• Short fun run (shoes optional)
• Slow-motion video and analysis of running technique (time and technical limits apply)
• Free raffle of some of Ken Bob’s old running T-shirts, at least one copy of Barefoot Running Step by Step, and other goodies (as available)
• Multimedia Presentation (at indoor venues with electricity)
• Book signing by Barefoot Ken Bob Saxton – Save money and time, buy Barefoot Running Step by Step online NOW!
• Ken Bob’s Running Barefoot Play-Fun-Shops (at outdoor locations)

SCHEDULE:

Tentative!

All plans are subject to change, until after they happen! – Barefoot Ken Bob Saxton

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Ken Bob’s current location on a map (when he last ran the real-time GPS tracker)

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Related Links

• http://RunBarefootTour.com (shortcut to here)
• Updates from the road
• Yoga Teacher’s Training Course (TTC)
• Report at PsychoHerman.com
• Ken Bob’s Regular Runs and Play-Fun-Shops

About Barefoot Ken Bob Saxton:

Ken Bob Saxton is the leading instructor of barefoot running in the country, featured on ABC World News (2005), NPR, Runner’s World magazine, The New York Times, and many other newspapers, magazines, radio, and television appearances/mentions locally and around the world, as well as being acknowledged as the “great bearded sage” of barefoot running in the bestseller Born to Run, by Chris McDougall, who calls Ken Bob “The Master of Barefoot Running.”
Ken Bob has completed more than 400 races barefoot, including 79 marathons barefoot (and one marathon in shoes), and one ultra-marathon (50+ kilometers). Ken Bob has qualified for the Boston Marathon several times and “run” it twice. He enjoyed completing an astounding marathon-a-month challenge in 2004 (actually 13 marathons, but who’s counting?), which he topped with 14 marathons in 2006, including 4 marathons in a 15-day period–all barefoot.

Ken Bob has run tens of thousands of miles barefoot, just for fun, over the past 50+ years (no precise data, since most of the running was just for fun, and Ken Bob kept a running log for only 10 of those 50+ years).

“Barefoot” Ken Bob, as he is popularly known, has trained thousands of people across the country in person at his “Play-Fun-Shops” (clinics/workshops) and educated thousands of new barefoot runners around the world, from Mumbai to Oslo, via his popular website at BarefootRunning.com – which is the original Running Barefoot website (founded by Barefoot Ken Bob in 1997).

About Psycho Herman: (Ken Bob’s large furry dog)

Herman found his way to the Humane Society in Huntington Beach, California where he was discovered and adapted by Cathy and Ken on 2004 June 22.
Herman is reportedly a Great Pyranees/Golden Retriever mix, Herman loves cats, including Stripes (who lived to 16-years), even though she punched Herman on the nose when they first met. Herman also loves small children and puppies.

AKA: Psycho Herman

If you have a large male dog Herman will let them know who is the boss (and a few aggressive small or female dogs too). Then, just a few patient minutes later, if you and your dog haven’t run away in fear, Herman will be ready to play his favorite game with your dog – did I mention, Herman loves to be chased!

Herman also likes to growl back at, and race with Harley Davidson motorcycles, diesel trucks, skaters, and sometimes bicycles and runners (even if they didn’t growl at him)

Herman’s parents (Ken Bob and Cathy) went to behavior school in 2010-11, and Herman is a bit more relaxed now that we have learned to understand his aggression (fear), but he is still Herman, and occasionally still Psycho Herman, though a somewhat toned down version.

His growling and aggressive nature, is mostly just for show (Yes, Herman is a drama-queen!). The idea is not to fight with the bear, but to convince the bear that it does not want to fight with Herman. (Some people, SUVs, trucks, etc. may seem like bears to Herman)

Having given you that warning, there’s a really good chance that you won’t even see the “psycho” side of Herman. As he ages, mellows, and has learned that he gets far more back scratches by not acting psycho!

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