If you read Gordon Pirie's manual (free via Google - 'running fast and injury free'), just like the barefoot proponents decades later, he theorises that cushioned shoes lead to more injuries (there are numerous studies that suggest this btw) because they prevent the foot from building up muscle. The POSE running community also believe this. Pirie suggests that the great African runners move so gracefully because they learned to run barefoot as children and developed foot strength. Bikila's legendary 2.15 marathon (50 yrs ago this yr) wasn't run BF because he chose to, it was because Puma turned up with the wrong shoes...he wasn't going to let this get in the way of his Olympic chances, so ran sans footwear. He did this partly over cobble stones... I dread cobbles in modern shoes - and can only imagine how strong his feet must've been and how good his technique was.
Anyway, please excuse my waffling. I haven't grown up running barefoot so don't necessarily practice what I preach. It is worth watching the Africans though - they really do have grace in movement, and it's no coincidence that they start out in bare feet.
