However, not everyone agrees with this approach. On the SweatScience website, their take on the article is that McDougall's approach is just a series of anecdotes and he has no scientific facts behind his arguements. The full response can be seen HERE
On another website, a jounalist interviewed the author of the 1976 book The Joy of Running. The author Dr. Thaddeus Kostrubala had also visited and written about the Tarahumara Indians that were the basis for McDougall's Born to Run book. In the interview, Dr.Kostrubala said this about barefoot running..."It’s a fad. Running is full of fads. Food fads, training fads, you name it. And the idea that we were running barefoot on cement is nonsense." The interview can be seen HERE
So is barefoot running good or bad?
There are a lot of vested interests involved here and any claims should be examined in that light. While it's obvious that the vast majority of runners will keep wearing normal running shoes, I have read that the publicity behind the barefoot running phenomenon may well influence the design of future design of running shoes. We'll see.