I just ran the General Mills Trix run in Lodi, Ca. this morning, and this is a quick race report. The race was around the Lodi Lake area, with about half being on a paved(ish) road, and the other half on a dirt trail. I decided to do this race barefoot. It was my first ever 5K barefoot, and if I could go back I probably would have worn my Sockwas or Huaraches. I can take some small rocks, but after a while the heel just starts to hurt. I was able to mitigate some of the discomfort by turning most of the road section into a grass section by running along the side of the road on the grass. The even was chip timed, and I finished in something around 37 minutes. So this was actually my worst official 5K, but at least I went at it bare. I would like everyone to know that I didn't recieve any negative comments from people about my bare feet, but several people did ask about it with genuine interest. As far as I could tell I was the only barefoot or minimalist runner there. But I had a good time, I got a cool shirt, and 2 boxes of Trix for my daughter. The only real advice I would give to people thinking about trying a race barefoot for the first time is to scout the course if possible. ;Unless of course the rocks don't hurt you, in which case get out there and run. Here are a couple of pics from after the race:
