Los Angeles Marathon Barefoot (2012 March 18) Los Angeles CA

Ken Bob with sun rising in background (2012 March 18) Los Angeles Marathon

Clean Bottle

It was great that the folks at the Clean Bottle booth hosted Roy Wallack and Ken Bob Saxton for a book signing on Saturday at the Los Angeles Marathon Expo

Who completed the Los Angeles Marathon 2012 BAREFOOT?

running, walking, crawling, hobbling, wheel-chairing, dancing, etc. – barefoot…

1. John Killmond (confirmed)
2. Chris ???
3. Alberto Perusett (confirmed)
4. Pedro Martini (confirmed)
5. Casey Cochran
6. Jacobus Degroot (confirmed)
7. Merlin Ramos (confirmed)
8. Garrick Staples (confirmed)
9. Eric David
10. Daniel Alcala
11. Ken Bob Saxton (confirmed)

Nearly Barefoot

1. bArefootNDY (half in sandals/half barefoot)

Summary

I personally promised that the weather (probably) would not be as cold and wet as in 2011… probably! … and despite weather predictions from the experts that a big storm was going to wash us all down the marathon course (making it a marathon swim?) on Sunday, the black clouds cowered as the sun rose, and there wasn’t a single drop of rain after the very early morning hours. It was raining while I drove to Santa Monica, but stopped half-way there.

The wind did pick up later in the day, but wasn’t much problem, just occasional gusts between building, and once we turned down Ocean Boulevard toward the finish line, the wind was at our backs.

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Story

Didn’t get to meet up before the race with any other barefoot runners. The location I picked in the bleachers was taken over by Students Run L.A., and the next closest location was crowded with other runners hiding in case it began to rain, but hoping it wouldn’t.

I had a chat with a nice older fellow named Ed on the bus to Dodger Stadium where the marathon would begin, and interestingly he had “bone-on-bone” knees since he was 17 years old, and as I discussed the many reasons why people run barefoot (including that it helps them learn to run more gently, thus protecting their knees from damage), he began to realize that he had taught himself the same techniques that work for barefoot runners, because he couldn’t run the way most shod runners do (heel-striking with a straight knee). He wouldn’t have been able to run for all these years if he hadn’t.

While hanging around at Dodger Stadium, I did get a call from Jacobus, but he was going to start further forward in the crowd, while I began at the back of the pack (it’s so much easier to pass people in the back of the pack). So I wandered about a bit, put my gear in the bag check Pods, and after the starting horn sounded, I waited for the back of the pack to start moving so I could eventually cross the start line, and even more eventually, the finish line.

I knew I was under-trained, and so figured I may just as well start out walking, since I certainly would be walking several of the final miles. But, I trotted along comfortably for many miles, before catching a glimpse of another barefoot runner, and then I ran with Merlin (and his friend Rad Rob) for several more miles.

Then I walked with a legacy runner for a few more miles, when John caught up with me doing the run 10 minutes, walk 5 minutes strategy. And I ran with him for a bit, and we nearly caught Merlin during our 10 minute run, but then it was time for a much needed walk (John also hadn’t trained much).

Then I needed to walk some more and I let John go on ahead, and another John, from my work caught up with me and we walked (mostly) the last few miles until mile 26, where we began running so we could at least finish the marathon running.

Jacubus had finished about an hour earlier, and I gave him a ride back to Dodger Stadium where his car was parked. Then I went home, walked Herman (the dog), showered, ate, watched some Eureka episodes on DVD, and fell asleep.

Related Links

• Clean Bottle
• Book Signing at Clean Bottle booth at Los Angeles Marathon
• Los Angeles Marathon
• Barefoot Running Step by Step

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