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Comment by Hasu | Hacker News Reader

Somewhat off topic, but I run barefoot (when I run, which isn't as often these days), and the responses are very similar. Mostly repetitive insults from men, ("did you forget your shoes?", "be careful, you'll cut your feet"), some curiosity, ("doesn't that hurt?"), some envy ("wow I wish I could do that") and a small amount of praise.

It's interesting how many people feel free to say the damnedest things when they see someone doing something they don't understand.

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"be careful, you'll cut your feet" seems like something I would say, but it would be out of well-meaning concern, and not in any way intended as an insult.

Yeah, I'm middle-aged and ride around on an electric skateboard, including a daily but very short commute. I go out of my way (literally) to not inconvenience either pedestrians or drivers, so have had only a couple of drivers yell at me (much less than on a bike). But I do get questions and comments often.

The fact that you don't like what they say doesn't mean they don't understand what you're doing.

No, the things they say mean they don't understand it. "Doesn't that hurt your feet?" is a question that no one who understands barefoot running would ask.

Also, I don't care about what they say. If you don't have a thick skin and the capacity to shake off random comments from strangers, you won't do something unusual that attracts that kind of attention for > 10 years

> Also, I don't care about what they say. If you don't have a thick skin and the capacity to shake off random comments from strangers, you won't do something unusual that attracts that kind of attention for > 10 years

If you don't have a thick skin, you also probably wouldn't be running barefoot.

(sorry, my androgen-induced aggression got the better of me)

It is not an entirely painfree experience, though. In some cases it is not a completely unwarranted question.

For example, the snow and ice melted here yesterday, exposing gravel on asphalt which is borderline painful to run on directly. Also, e.g. very cold winter days or just nasty gravel roads may inflict varying degrees of pain.

Otherwise, it can also be slightly painful for the soles during later parts of long runs, especially when inexperienced or when running for the first time in months.

I used to run in a running group that had a barefoot runner as a member and the number one comment I heard made was "I don't understand why [the hell/fuck] you would run barefoot".

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