About 2009 there started a fad within the running community towards barefoot running. The buzz was to get rid of the supportive and shock absorbing running shoes as they were regarded as the reason for a lot of the injuries that runners were getting. The trend was backed and advocated by a lot of so-called gurus, internet sites, forums and books. It was intensely promoted as the response to a lot of the issues that runners experienced. It had been estimated that as much as around one fourth of all runners dabbled with the notion of barefoot or minimalist running at that time. Regardless of all the rhetoric and statements created for barefoot running, the science and research failed to support these claims that were being made. For most of those athletes which tried it, the benefits didn't materialise, and so they returned to running in what they were used to be running in. Runners at some point dropped interest in it and in spite of all the hoopla and the volume of promotion that was directed at it, the trend started falling off by end of 2014 and these days it scarcely rates a mention with the exception of historic terms and by a small serious group that still undertake it and continue to encourage for it.
The craze did inspire lots of barefoot running shoes which is a little bit of an oxymoron because how could you be barefoot and still have running shoes. Nonetheless, these kinds of athletic shoes during the time were designed to be so minimal and have little cushioning like the traditional running shoes. These were truly nothing more than protective covering of the foot. It was assumed that when using these kinds of footwear that they were as near as you can get to running barefoot whilst still using some kind of athletic shoes. There were a lot of new companies into the athletic shoes market on the back of this craze as the traditional athletic shoes corporations had been relatively sluggish to react to the progress in the marketplace. The original running footwear companies did respond with additional minimalist shoes at the time. Since then a number of the new entrants have left the market and the choice of barefoot running shoes supplied by the larger athletic shoes businesses have been greatly reduced as the interest in these shoes have fallen to the extent that they currently comprise much less than 1% of the running shoe industry.
Whilst there isn't any longer much interest, if any, in barefoot running shoes, there is a legacy that the fad leaves on the market. Athletes are more acutely aware of the various design options in running shoes such as the magnitude of cushioning and the elevation with the cushioned back heel. There are some of the minimalist design features that have been incorporated into the more traditional running shoes. All the various athletic shoes now available on the market is now much more substantial which range from the minimal end to the more padded maximalist end of the spectrum. There is no doubt that this gimmick has left a legacy.