Imagine for a moment…you’re running or hiking through a forest.
The air is cool. Your heart is beating. Your feet touching the ground lightly as if your body feels almost weightless.
Your feet are uninhibited.
You’re floating along. Flying.
Your breath matches the rhythm of your feet,
the rhythm of your arms, the rhythm of the earth.
You’re connected to the earth through your motion and its motion,
through its air in your lungs, and through your feet touching its body…the ground.
This is your animal body moving in its natural habitat.
This is wild. This is freedom.
I’m a big fan of minimalist footwear and that preference carries over into my running as well.
That’s why when I first discovered the Earth Runners minimalist sandals through their first successful fundraising campaign on Kickstarter in 2012 I immediately decided to back their campaign and purchased a pair for running and hiking and help them get their company vision off the ground.
When those first publicly offered incarnation of Earth Runners arrived I loved everything about them. I was finally able to recycle my tattered, stinky old Vibram Five Fingers in place of a new breathable, lightweight option.
Others must have loved them as much as I did because their second Kickstarter campaign in 2013 was successfully funded and raised over $32,000 for the production of their next generation sandals, far surpassing their $7000 goal.
I tested out those sandals and reviewed them on my Youtube Channel here.
Fast forward 8 years later and Earth Runners is a thriving small company of health, nature, and natural movement enthusiasts with a well-refined product, and thousands of happy wearers across the globe…and their latest offerings are the best yet!
What makes Earth Runners different than any other sandal?
Huarache sandal inspired design – The sandal strap goes between your big toe and second toe like a regular pair of sandals but also goes across the top of your foot and behind your heel. This gives a very secure fit, making them perfect for activities like trail running, hiking, gardening, workouts, and any other form of outdoor play.
Zero drop – This means there is a 0mm difference between the thickness of the heel and the toe of the sole. A zero drop sole is great for promoting a natural stride and foot strike, just as if you were barefoot.
Flexible – Unlike other active sandals (like Teva and Chaco), even the thickest model of Earth Runners (Alpha 12mm) provides a level of flexibility that supports your balance, natural foot movement, toe articulation, and gives you added grip as you can contour your foot and sandal over uneven surface features like rocks and roots.
Earthing – All Earth Runners have conductive lacing and copper grounding plug, giving you the added benefit of being grounded to the Earth while wearing them outdoors. Earthing has many claimed benefits. For more info, watch this documentary on the benefits of this practice:
I love these sandals so much that I recently chose the ‘Circadian’ model with the new hemp footbed as my only pair of footwear to take on my 10 day wilderness vision quest experience. When I wasn’t barefoot, I was wearing my Earth Runners.
If you love the feeling of being barefoot and if you’ve been looking for the perfect footwear for your outdoor adventures then look no further than Earth Runners.
Earth Runners has been kind enough to offer We Are Wildness readers a 10% discount using the coupon code: 10WAW
Check out their website at Earthrunners.com
