Obligatory Ding-bat Podiatrist Quote

Over at Barefoot Ted's Minimalist Runner's Group, it's long been noted that any story that's positive about running has to feature the obligatory podiatrist quote.  This is usually (but not always) the obligatory dingbat podiatrist quote because the podiatrist's opinion usually defies science, logic, and common sense.

Here's the lastest, in the article "Barefoot runner Caity McCardell ready to put her soles on the line":

"But Dr. John Pagliano, a Long Beach-based podiatrist who specializes in sports injuries, is not a fan of running shoeless.

"'If you're 150 pounds, whether you come down on your heels or your forefoot, it's still 150 pounds,' he said. 'I think you really need the shock absorbers from the shoe and control of shoes while running.'"

Thanks to the author of the story, who quoted this fellow after Prof. Lieberman explained why it's not true.
Here's the rest of the "series".

Barefoot At The New York Marathon

Good luck, guys.

"...That’s right. Wood, a 35-year-old programmer, is running the entire 26.2 miles completely barefoot.

“I’ve been running through a lot of back streets where sometimes it’s all rubble and glass,” says Wood, whose long training runs take him through Brooklyn, over the Manhattan Bridge and up the West Side of Manhattan. 

"Wood isn’t participating in some sort of monastic self-flagellation.
"Rather, he’s part of a growing number of New Yorkers who’ve said bon voyage to their sneakers and embraced the idea that running barefoot promotes proper form, thereby preventing most injuries that plague long-distance runners.

"“I think a lot of people are under the impression that someone has stolen my shoes, and I’m running after them,” quips the second-time marathoner who ditched his running shoes about a year ago because his knees began to bother him.

"He began his barefoot odyssey with funky “five-finger” wetsuit shoes that are made by Vibram, then went the full monty.

"After a recent 19-mile barefoot run through the city, Wood didn’t need to ice his body or stretch out thoroughly. “The knees feel great. I feel a complete difference,” he swears...."

Good luck to all the folks running the marathon shod, also.

Back from a long hiatus, this story features the popular Obligatory Ding-Bat Podiatrist quote!

"...Though running barefoot is increasingly popular in the running community, there are experts who say sole-to-pavement jogging is playing with fire.
"“Some people say the caveman is a perfect example of how walking barefoot is safe and not harmful to the body,” says Dr. Rock Positano, director of non-surgical foot and ankle service at the Hospital for Special Surgery.
"“What they don’t mention is that the average caveman didn’t live past age 20. It’s not a very good comparison.”
"Running a marathon barefoot is a “nightmare in the making,” he says. “The feet will be screaming for mercy — [as will] the shins, knees, hips and back.”..."

Thanks Doc!  Another podiatrist ignorantly spreading fear, uncertainty, and doubt.  Gotta love that.  Read the literature, Doc. We do.

"Appealing to Runners, Even the Shoeless"

Interesting, but about what you'd expect from the Times:

"Those gains come not from traditional models — which add stability and cushioning to cater to a variety of gaits, and whose sales are actually down as much as 18 percent over last year — but rather from a new crop of pared-down running shoes, whose sales are up 283 percent."

That's good to hear.  I'm always happy to hear about barefoot-style running getting press, but I've got a number of bones to pick with this article...

"Now, to promote its new NB Minimus collection, New Balance is making a case to runners who may be considering going barefoot or converting to barefoot-style shoes, but still would like something more significant between the bottom of their feet and bottle caps on the trail."

Unfortunately, the ads as described in times make the barefooters sound pretty obtuse.  Odd, given that New Balance got the idea for these new shoes from barefooters, but I guess they've got to sell shoes.  Fear, uncertainty, and doubt is a Madison Avenue staple, after all.

"Advocates of barefoot running contend that modern running shoes, which over the decades have increasingly swaddled feet in cushioning, may actually cause injuries in some runners rather than prevent them."

It would be nice if the author had mentioned that some of these "advocates" are scientific researchers in the field.  But that would make NB look bad, since they still sell lots of non-minimalist shoes still.  Gotta keep the advertisers happy, and NB is increasing ad spending...

And now, drumroll please, the Obligatory Ding-bat Podiatrist Quote:

"Marybeth Crane, a podiatrist in Grapevine, Tex., who also is a marathon runner and specializes in sports medicine, told Men’s Health recently that “85 percent of my patients get injured trying to transition to the new shoes.”"

First, the New York Times couldn't find a podiatrist?  They had to quote one from Grapevine, TX, who was invterviewed by another publication?  What is the Times coming to?

Second, I've done a lot of races.  I drive around a lot.  I look at every single runner's feet to see what they're wearing.  I'm OCD.  People may be buying a lot of minimalist shoes, but very few are actually running in them.  At a recent half-marathon I ran in, I could count the number of Vibram-wearers on both hands, for instance, and that was out of 4,500 people.  If 85% of Dr. Crane's practice really did get injured running in barefoot-style shoes, then she must have a very, very small practice.  Grapevine has a population of 46,334, so if she's right, it must have the highest percentage of barefoot-style runners (and runners, for that matter) in the United States.  Color me skeptical.

Back to the Times, NB is spinning as fast as they can:

"“What consumers are looking for is not necessarily a true barefoot shoe but rather the benefits, a product that encourages a more natural gait,” said Katherine Petrecca, manager of the NB Minimus line at New Balance."

What exactly is "a true barefoot shoe", I wonder?  I honestly have no idea, since the term barefoot shoe is an oxymoron in the first place.  But if I had to guess, I would say that it looks a lot like the NB Minimus zero-drop line that they're releasing any day now.  Unlike the current Minimus mentioned in the Times, which features a cushioned heel that prevents a "more natural gait", the new model does away with the heel, becoming a truly barefoot-style shoe.

They look nice, too.  I like NB, but it would be nice if they had a little more respect for the barefoot runners who are their partners in this revolution, and the ones most likely to buy their new shoes for the winter shod running season. :)

Nice Article Quoting Barefoot Ken Bob

See here.  Apparently his book is coming out in the spring.

And shockingly, the obligatory podiatrist quoted is "on the fence", not reflexively against barefoot running.  That's an improvement!

Barefooting In The New York Times

Pretty standard fare, as someone who reads a lot of these newspaper articles on barefoot running.  Complete with the obligatory dopey podiatrist quote, at least rebutted this time around by Dr. Irene Davis.

"Barefoot Running Phenomenon Hits White Plains"

This is right up the road from my office.  Excellent. 

I've not seen any other barefoot runners on the roads around where I live and work, although Vibram-clad runners are becoming more common.

It includes an obligatory dingbat podiatrist paraphrase: 

"Some podiatrists warn that the proactive could be harmful as the world is no longer filled with grassy fields, but with pavement that can be littered with glass and other items harmful to your feel."

Of course, as we know, the podiatrist profession is coming around.

"Minimalist Shoes Are Not Just For Running"

That's for sure.  Nice to see continuing positive coverage in the main-stream media, this time the Washington Post:

"...It was Morton’s neuroma, an excruciating nerve condition, that had stopped Susan-Marie Stedman of Burtonsville in her tracks. The 52-year-old marine biologist couldn’t manage to hike without hurting, no matter what shoes she’d tried. Until she bought Vibram FiveFingers a year ago.


Now Stedman can’t imagine wearing anything other than her “freaky feet,” her pet name for the odd-looking (some might even say ugly) shoes. She owns three pairs, which she wears when she’s stretching, on the elliptical and even hang-gliding. “Once you’ve made the commitment to this type of footwear, you can’t go back,” she says. “Disco dancing and bike riding are the two things I won’t do in them now.”..."

Dr. Cucuzzella also gets a mention:

"...The trend sounds smart to Mark Cucuzzella, a 44-year-old physician in Sheperdstown, W.Va., who’s become one of the leading proponents of barefoot-style living. “Who can run in Vibram FiveFingers off the bat? Not many people,” says Cucuzzella, who spent years preparing his feet for the switch from traditional shoes to minimalist ones for running. “But you can start walking in a lower drop shoe immediately. Walking is the perfect transition.”..."

And no obligatory ding-bat podiatrist quote...

Vibrams Taking Off In The Military

Wow.  I'm just shocked at this article.  Read the whole thing, but here are some key excerpts (emphases are mine):

"The sergeant major of the Army is thinking about training for his next marathon in them, but Army officials have banned them from the PT test over worries they might give some soldiers an unfair advantage."

An unfair advantage.  Heck, the atom bomb was an unfair advantage.  Don't we want our troops to get all the unfair advantages they can?

"Air Force Command Chief Master Sgt. Jeffery Cui, at Bagram Airfield, has banned airmen from wearing them with the Air Force PT uniform in Afghanistan, citing their wear as one of the most violated rules on base in a recent edition of the Bagram Express."

That's pretty cool.  Bunch of rebels. ;)

"Down at Kandahar, however, military doctors are encouraging their use and even prescribing them for recovering runners.

"'VFFs are the best thing out there for rehabilitating lower extremity injuries,' says Navy doctor and physical therapist Lt. Cmdr. John Mahoney at Kandahar. 'I have converted a heck of a lot of people since I got here.'"

Wow! At least someone gets it!

"Before his latest assignment, he was the physical therapist for Naval Special Warfare Group 4 in Norfolk, Va. He estimates about 35 percent of SEALs have incorporated Vibram’s toe shoes into their workouts.

“Once Navy SEALs start wearing them, everybody in Virginia Beach wants to wear them,” he says.

This confirms what I've been hearing at Barefoot Ted's group for a year.

But then comes the obligatory dingbat podiatrist quote:

"The shoes are not for everyone, however.

"'Very, very flat-footed people should probably not wear them,' says Dr. Steven Pribut, a podiatrist and sports medicine expert in Washington, D.C., who specializes in working with runners.

That should read "who specializes in injuring runners".  We already know that barefoot is the best thing for flat feet.  Pribut is the guy who still has "A Brief History Of Sneakers" on his website, which contains such gems as:

"Within the context of modern athletic-shoe development, podiatric biomechanical thought and terminology have sunk deeply into the psyche of the athletic-shoe industry and the buying public. Words such as pronation, stability, and motion control are now widely used in the description and ranking of running shoes. The significance of types of feet and lasts, the use of motion-control devices, new shock-absorbing materials, and many other ideas have become common as a result of both podiatric sports medical influence and the realization that foot and lower extremity biomechanics plays a vital role in the performance of the casual athlete as well as the world-class athlete."

He's right, they became common.  Unfortunately they don't work.  Even worse, they injure the runners they're supposed to help:

"Every runner in the highly pronated group who wore a motion control shoe reported an injury. In other words, all runners (yes, 100%) who were supposed to be wearing a motion control shoe based on their degree of pronation got injured." [Emphases in the original]

Pribut does have some good advice, but it's sadly far outweighed by his bad advice.  But that's fodder for another post.

"Lt. Col. Kerry Sweet, the Army’s top foot doctor and chief of podiatry at Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis- McChord, Wash., has been monitoring the trend at his base.

"'We have not seen any appreciable — or even noticeable — increase in injuries as a result of people wearing these shoes,' he says, but he adds it may be too soon to tell. 'We’re in a real gray area right now.'

So despite what doctors like Pribut have been telling us minimalists for as long as I've been following this, a doctor who is actually monitoring minimalist runners reports no increase in injuries!  I wish I was shocked.

The article finishes up with a branch-by-branch status report, and a list of suggestions of how to get your commanding officer to allow you to wear toe shoes.  Clearly this is still up in the air in the Military, but the degree of acceptance is, to me, just shocking.

I never figured it would be going this quickly.

Now, just imagine if there was a study that actually finds minimalist shoes to be beneficial to injury rates...

UPDATE: Follow-up post.

Running Barefoot Up The Empire State Building

"Matherne, a 23-year-old Stamford resident, will find himself on the ground floor of the Empire State Building at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 1, mentally preparing to run 86 flights -- 1,576 stairs -- in the 34th annual Empire State Building Run Up, a New York Road Runners event.

"This runner, though, will hit the road with bare feet.

"Shortly after he began running more than a year ago, Matherne started experiencing knee pain and stress fractures. Matherne ignored the pain initially, but could no longer endure it after running the New Orleans Rock & Roll Marathon. His doctor said the meniscus in his knees could not take the impact of running and advised Matherne to stop.

"His physical therapist suggested he try barefoot running.

'I tried it and pain that almost had me under the knife was completely gone,' he said. 'It was either barefoot or don't run, and I don't quit,' Matherne said."

The obligatory ding-bat podiatrist quote:

"For all the selling points, he admits that 'I'm sure a podiatrist would look at my feet and say, `What's wrong with you?''

"He may be right. Dr. Michael Sabia Jr., a podiatrist from Stamford Podiatry Group, advises against barefoot running. He said it is OK to run barefoot on packed earth, but not on man-made, hard surfaces.

"'The foot really needs help to run around on concrete and hard surfaces . . . it's not designed to do that,' Sabia said. 'You have some yielding that comes with the earth or football field. There is a natural cushioning that say a good running shoe would provide. Obviously asphalt, concrete or steel does not yield.'"

And a nice comment from the NYRR:

"Drea Braxmeier, a spokeswoman for New York Road Runners, said they don't know how many other runners will forgo shoes on race day.

"'We don't discourage it, we don't really encourage it either. It's really up to the runner,' she said. 'We actually have quite a few runners that are starting to run with the Vibram Five Finger shoes . . . but not necessarily barefoot.'

Braxmeier said only a handful of competitors have run barefoot in the NYRR races.

Cool story.

"Jogging Barefoot Moves From Fad To Accepted Option"

Cool:

"'I have really bad knees,' says Rebecca Ouding.

"'I have an old knee injury that gets aggravated,' says Bud Uyeda.

"'I ran a marathon 20 years ago, and after that my arches collapsed,' says Dave Hafera.

"Not what you typically hear from people enjoying a fun run on a sunny summer Sunday. But there they were in Maryland's Meadowbrook Park at the Naked Foot 5K last weekend, happily joining 450 others despite injuries that usually spell the end of running careers.

"Their secret? After years of frustration trying to cure these ailments, all have switched to running barefoot or in the minimalist shoes that mimic running shoeless...."

And no obligatory ding-bat podiatrist quote.

I don't know that barefoot running's even risen to the level of a fad. Very, very few people actually run barefoot on a regular basis. But lots of people, like me, see old injuries improve or disappear when running barefoot or in minimalist shoes. Strengthening your feet and legs has many benefits.

"Jogging"? <shudder>.

"Barefoot Runner Braves Falmouth Road Race", or More Podiatric Baloney

The Falmouth Road Race is one of the most famous races in the United States, if you weren't aware.
So when a guy runs it barefoot, it's news in Massachusetts:

"...On Sunday, White and two other solid-soled souls plan on running the 39th New Balance Falmouth Road Race in their birthday boots.

"White, 47, began running barefoot about a year ago after he read Christopher McDougall's Born to Run, a 2009 book that, in part, brought barefoot running's status from an off-beat activity to a growing movement. "I had stopped pretty much completely for the past 15 or 20 years," said White, who ran track for University of Maine. 

"Although he enjoyed running in his younger days, nagging pains in his back and a knee kept him away from the sport, he said. But hearing McDougall speaking on the radio about his time witnessing Tarahumara Indians in Mexico running miles over rough terrain — a sight that inspired his book — prompted White to attend a conference about barefoot running where he heard Irene Davis speak...."

Pretty cool story.   Unfortunately, it features the Obligatory Dingbat Podiatrist Quote:

"But many in the podiatry field remain skeptical of the phenomenon. 'The literature is showing that there is increased injury — almost an epidemic — within barefoot running,' said Moira McDermott, founder of Lower Cape Podiatry in Brewster and a past president of Podiatric Medical Society. 'If you haven't grown up your whole life in your bare feet ... as an adult, feet need support.'"

This is really a sweet piece of disinfomation from what I'm coming to realize is an amazingly ignorant or dishonest profession.

By "the literature", she must be referring to stuff like this:

"Although there is no evidence that either confirms or refutes improved performance and reduced injuries in barefoot runners, many of the claimed disadvantages to barefoot running are not supported by the literature. Nonetheless, it seems that barefoot running may be an acceptable training method for athletes and coaches who understand and can minimize the risks. (J Am Podiatr Med Assoc 101(3): 231–246, 2011)"

Yes, that's right, this is from the Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association.  This lady was supposedly a past president of the Podiatric Medical Society.  So she either doesn't actually read "the literature", or she's not up on the latest literature (that article was from the May/June issue), or she's just making it up.  I'm going with the first or the last options, since there's precious little literature on the topic.  If she's not read this, she's likely not read anything.

And this:  "If you haven't grown up your whole life in your bare feet ... as an adult, feet need support." is just baloney.  Provide some evidence, Doctor.  It's a pity you don't have any.  In which case, you should be quiet.

And I put this under my "Diseases of Civilization" category of posts, because doctors like this one are a major cause of the diseases of civilization.

Here's a post-race report.  Podiatric fear-mongering aside:

"Curtis, who entered the race with three other members of the Barefoot Running Meetup Group, finished the 7-mile course in 1:09.21. 

"'My feet felt so good,' Curtis said. 'Running through water would make them cool. (Then) they would be dry again ... It was no problem at all.'

"Curtis said there was actually a fifth barefoot runner in the race, 'but he was so far ahead,' they weren't able to find out who he was."

P.S. From Craig Payne at Podiatry Arena:

"Quote: But many in the podiatry field remain skeptical of the phenomenon. 'The literature is showing that there is increased injury — almost an epidemic — within barefoot running,' said Moira McDermott, founder of Lower Cape Podiatry in Brewster and a past president of Podiatric Medical Society.

"I would love to know what literature that they think actually says that?
"Quote: Originally Posted by Craig Payne: 'what I object to is the misuse, misrepresentation, misquoting and misinterpretation of the science'
"Not a day goes by that I do not hear ANECDOTAL reports from podiatrists and other health professionals working in running injury clinics about the high number of barefoot runners that are getting injured, but that is NOT a scientific report and its certainly not 'literature' , so I wonder what Moria McDermott thinks she is quoting from?

Gee, I'd guess she's might have been reading your site: www.barefootrunningisbad.com

As shown here, and here, it's pretty clearly your site, Payne.

Dr. Payne is unmasked.
But at least he agrees with my interpretation of his colleague.  :)