For more photos and coverage of the 2009 Veterans Marathon in Columbia City, go to our Whitley News Network partner, Talk of the Town …

By Jennifer Zartman Romano

November isn’t necessary a month you’d spend walking around outside shoeless – and you certainly wouldn’t be running around barefoot, would you?
Well, on Saturday, 49-year-old Dr. Michael Herz of Des Plaines, Illinois, caught the attention of quite a few race spectators and photographers as he ran all 26 miles of the Veterans Marathon – sans shoes!
Indeed, “Barefoot Michael” ran the entire course without shoes, a journey that took him down city streets, over gravel roads, cracks, crevices and other potentially discomforting experiences that other runners wouldn’t have noticed in their gel-soled foot covering.

But, according to a website dedicated to barefoot running, RunningBarefoot.org, it’s the feeling of running that barefoot runners are after – enjoying the sensation of their feet on the pavement and the natural nature of the exercise. For some, running barefoot has decreased pain in other parts of their bodies. It’s becoming more and more popular and barefoot runners are setting records of their own.
Herz has reportedly completed as many as five races this way in the past several weeks. Perhaps he’s hoping to set a few records of his own?

For more, click here …