Around 2009 there started a phenomena from the running community in the direction of barefoot running. The trend was to get rid of the supportive and cushioned running shoes because they were regarded as the reason for a lot of the overuse injuries which runners were getting. The fad was backed and encouraged by a lot of so-called gurus, websites, forums and also books and magazines. It was heavily offered as the answer to many of the conditions that runners faced. It had been projected that as much as around a quarter of all runners dabbled with the concept of barefoot or minimalist running at the time. Despite all of the rhetoric and boasts created for barefoot running, the science and research didn't support those claims which were being made. For the majority of those runners that tried it, the advantages didn't eventuate, and they returned to running as to what they were previously used to be running in. Runners ultimately dropped interest in it and in spite of all the buzz and the volume of promotion that was given to it, the trend started falling off by end of 2014 and these days it seldom rates a mention with the exception of historic terms and also by a small serious group which still do it and attempt to advocate for this.
The fad did stimulate a great deal of barefoot running shoes that is a little bit of a contradiction because how will you be barefoot and have running shoes. Nevertheless, these types of athletic shoes at that time were designed to be so minimal and still have little padding just like the standard athletic shoes. They were truly simply protective covering of the feet. It was presumed that when using these kinds of shoes that they were as near as you can get to running barefoot while still utilizing some sort of running shoe. There have been a lot of new entrants into the running shoe market on the back of this fad as the traditional running shoe businesses were somewhat slow to respond to the progress in the market. The original athletic shoes companies did react with additional minimalist shoes at that time. Since then many of the new brands have left the market and the choice of barefoot running shoes provided by the bigger running shoe companies are already greatly reduced for the reason that interest in these shoes have dropped to the level that they currently comprise a lot less than 1% of the athletic shoes market.
Whilst there is no longer much attention, if any, in barefoot running shoes, there is a legacy how the craze has left on the market. Athletes are definitely more acutely aware of the different design features in running shoes like the amount of padding and also the height with the shock absorbing heel. There are some of the minimalist design features that have been incorporated into the more traditional running shoes. The range of athletic shoes now on the market is currently much more comprehensive ranging from the minimal end to the more cushioned maximalist end of the spectrum. There isn't any doubt that the trend has left a legacy.