Walk (Run) A Mile In Their Shoes [Giveaway!]

You might have heard me mention before the benefits of running and training barefoot  and you may have seen (or even own) some minimalist shoes like Vibram Five Fingers or Altras.

Now, aside from the joint and health benefits, there is another reason to try out barefoot running…

Over the next few months, throughout the country, there will be a series of races called the “Naked Foot 5K” which benefit Soles for Souls, a charity focused on bringing and donating shoes to people throughout the world. For some, these shoes can mean the difference between being able to walk to work and hold a steady job, or to being able to attend school or not.

Appropriately, the race is shoes optional (you can run with shoes if barefoot isn’t your thing) so you can experience walking/running barefoot like those who have no shoes.

My husband’s favorite part of this race is that participants are asked to bring any gently used shoes to donate to Soles for Souls, which means I have a good reason to donate some of my (embarrassingly large) shoe collection…

Run With Me!

I was excited to find out about a barefoot race benefiting such a good cause, and I’m excited to be able to run the Nashville Naked Foot 5K! If you’re nearby, I’d absolutely love for you to come run barefoot with me! (Details below on how you can win a free entry!)

I’ll be running the Nashville Naked Foot 5K, but there are races throughout the country in St. Augustine, Santa Barbara, Washington D.C., Seattle, Minneapolis, Grand Rapids, Denver, Austin, Nashville and Salt Lake City.

If you’re near any of these areas, you can register here: Also, you can save $5 off the price of registration with the code “NFmama” and if you run with friends or family, you can all save $7 by registering together. Kids run free in the 5K and there is also a free 1K for those who aren’t up to the full 5K.

My husband and I will be running the 5K and our kids will be running the 1K. We’ll also be brining a big bag of shoes to donate, and I’m looking forward to this fun, fitness based, family activity.

There’s also a fun after-party benefiting the Tennessee Literary Coalition (at the Nashville race) that includes local music, food and fun activities for the kids (and even a climbing wall… hopefully for adults too!)

Help Soles for Souls

Naked Foot 5K’s goal in each city is to raise $2500 for Soles for Souls, and if you help by donating even $5, you could win a chance to go to Haiti and help deliver the shoes. (Pick me, Pick me!!!)

Even if you have no interest in running, consider donating even just $5 to help them bring shoes to those in need around the world… 100% of donations go to Soles for Souls.

Win A Free Entry!

Now for the fun part… I hope you’ll be able to run with me, but you can enter to win a free entry for any of the races around the country. To enter, just leave a comment below telling me about your experience (if any) with running barefoot. Even if your answer is “That’s crazy, I’d never try it!” let me know below!

Shoes or not, I’d love to meet and run with some of you that weekend!

For an extra entry, go like The Naked Foot 5K on facebook and share with your friends, then come back and leave a comment letting me know that you did.

The Winner..

The randomly selected winner was Amanda who said “I have run barefoot on beaches before, and recently ran barefoot after needing to walk a long long way and only have flip flops, decided that barefoot would be the better route. But have not ran very long for long distances barefoot.”

Congrats Amanda! Looks like you get to try out some longer distances! I’ll be in contact soon!

Ever run barefoot? Will you come run with me… pretty please? Leave a comment below!

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