Barefoot running was a big craze about 10 years ago which lasted a few years and drew a lot of attention, particularly in social media. At the end of 2008 to early 2009 there were growing assertions that running footwear were really bad for the athletes and has been responsible for the vast majority of injuries that athletes were getting. It was regardless of the phenomenal quantity of science and engineering which went into developing athletic shoes in order to avoid those overuse injuries. These beliefs triggered a fad for runners to experiment with running not making use of running footwear and running barefoot or running in what become referred to as minimalist athletic shoes. These types of running footwear had negligible technology or features inside them and are merely a safety covering up of the feet.

The without running shoes running fad was driven by a huge presence in social media. There initially were an abundance of websites, books, classes, magazines and discussion boards focused on and advocating without footwear running. Many remarkable promises were made for barefoot running in what it might do for the runners. It had been believed that up to one fourth of runners may have experimented in some way with barefoot running. Nonetheless, by late 2013 and early on in 2014 interest in barefoot running had dwindled away and athletes were no longer inquisitive about it. This was in spite of the many astounding comments which got made in regards to the great things about it and the statements coming from many that it was going to put the running footwear providers out of business. This never ever happened.

The fad decreased given that the assumed benefits hardly ever added up for the majority of athletes who used it. There initially were a large amount of assertions made that the research backed up barefoot running, when in fact there wasn't any research that established that it was greater and following research has revealed how the injury rate in without running shoes or minimalist running just isn't lower than those who work out in the cushioned running shoes. There was plenty of research carried out on barefoot and minimalist running, however that research just didn't show that it had been any superior, it really indicated that that it was different. The undeniable fact that there was so much research which was misinterpreted by people who promoted barefoot running as showing it had been better, when that isn't exactly what it proved.

In the end with the barefoot novelty, the Hoka One One running footwear organization released some maximally shock absorbing running footwear which were ridiculed and disliked by individuals advocating barefoot running. Even though, athletes liked this footwear and the Hoka’s are now a strong player in the running footwear market and since 2014 the movement is still for the much more maximally shock absorbing running shoes from all the running shoe manufacturers.

There is certainly still a tiny group of die hard barefoot athletes which was ever present. Currently the minimalist running footwear have made up approximately 0.3-0.5% of the running footwear marketplace for the previous few years. Those maximalist running shoes still control the market for the last 6-7 years and there is no clue of any decline in the market share or a come back of an affinity for barefoot or minimalist athletic shoes.