Runner to go barefoot for marathon

Thursday, 18 February 2010

By Lindsay Burns

MOST people wouldn’t step out their front door in slippers or socks in London, let alone run 26 miles in bare feet.

But this is exactly what sensation-seeker Reece Howe will do when he runs the London Marathon on April 25 to raise money for Help the Aged and Age Concern.

Four years ago, after struggling with knee injuries and shin splints as a result of training, Reece, who lives near the South Bank, decided to try running barefoot as a way to improve his performance.

Reece, 24, who runs for miles on the paths and roads near the river, said: “I slowly got into it over time.

“It’s a completely different style of running – you take lots of faster, smaller steps.

"When you run 10 miles in trainers, you start to feel the weight of them.

"It’s a lot more fun to feel the ground between your toes.

“You can imagine it’s like having gloves on all your life and then suddenly taking them off.

“You realise the ground is dry and wet and squidgy and hard.

"All those sensations you’re missing out on.”

He said his feet had become splayed, stronger and more muscular since he started barefoot running and is less prone to twisting or stumbling.

Although running in London is not without its hazards, he said it was not as risky as people might think.

He said: “I’m quite good at spotting dog mess from a long way off.

“Everyone says, ‘Aren’t you scared of treading on syringes?’.

"But I’ve never seen a syringe on the road and I’ve lived in London for eight years.

“I run through beer gardens quite a lot and maybe once every two months I’ll get a small piece of glass in my foot that I haven’t seen, but if can’t see it, it’s not going to do much damage.”

Reece chose to raise money for Age Concern because he has recently founded a personalised home-help service for older people after the death of his grandmother in a nursing home.

As well as carrying out tasks, or just talking to clients, carers also act as a contact point for family and friends, to encourage others to help out as well.

He said: “I find it sad, surprising and shocking that older people regularly receive such poor levels of support in the final years of their lives.

"I wanted to do something to help change this.”

Visit www.justgiving.com/ReeceHowe to sponsor Reece.

Email: lindsay.burns@slp.co.uk

For the full story, you can get a full online edition at www.slp-e-edition.co.uk

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