A couple months ago I made a conscious effort to stop running on my forefoot and start running on my midfoot. This was a little tricky to figure out how to do and make sure not to heel strike at the same time -particularly on trails. The primary reason I did it was to increase my speed, and it worked. But, it had unanticipated benefits. Primarily I noticed a distinct increase in my core muscle strength, which makes sense since my center of gravity is more, well, centered. I noticed a special increase in strength in my hamstrings and glutes. Also, I noticed I did not grip my toes hardly ever after awhile. My feet were much more relaxed as I ran. And another benefit was better balance, which became particularly noticeable when I ran trails -in the super-slippery Oregon rain/mud. My ability to stop slipping in the mud became distinctly better. And I am able to stop from falling using my core muscles and balance, rather than gripping with my toes and trying to halt. I haven't fallen, yet, and though I'm sure my day is coming, it's a lot less likely now. And it's not that I don't stop and walk through certain super-scary mud puddles, but my balance has made me a lot more confident to go through the majority of them. And it's mostly cuz of changing to a midfoot strike.