Mark Cucuzzella – How Natural Running Shoes Finally Allowed Him To Run Pain Free

Run to the Top Podcast | The Ultimate Guide to Running

RunnersConnect: Coaching Community, Running Experts, Inspiring Runners, No Fluff Blog

Running, Fitness, Health & Fitness, Sports

4.5 • 936 Ratings

🗓️ 10 September 2012

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What do you do when you experience significant injury after injury, so much so that surgery no longer helps and most doctors tell you it's time to hang up the running shoes? You hang up your shoes and try natural running, of course.

In 2000, Dr. Mark Cucuzzella did just that.

After suffering for years from arthritis in his toes, Mark was told by his doctors to stop his running. However, Mark couldn't give up on his passion, so he began to research and scientifically explore how natural running shoes could help save his career.

What Dr. Mark found was nothing short of remarkable. By running barefoot and in natural running shoes he was able to run pain-free and injury-free for the first time in years.

In this podcast, we interview Dr. Mark Cucuzzella and find out exactly what he did, why it worked, and how you can do the same.

Dr. Cucuzzella is widely considered to be one of the leading experts on how and why to incorporate and transition to minimalist running. Mark is a Professor of Family Medicine at West Virginia University School of Medicine. His marathon best is 2:24 and has run under 2:40 for a marathon 24 of the last 25 years, with 22 of these years being run under 2:35. He won the 2011 Air Force Marathon in 2:38, a week shy of his 45th birthday. He attributes much of this longevity to good running form and minimalist principles. And that's what he's here to teach you today.

If you've been thinking about how, or if you should, transition to natural running shoes, you've got to listen to this interview.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello fellow runners I'm Jeff Godette chief running enthusiasts for runners
0:03.5	connect a community of expert coaches dedicated to providing runners the
0:06.7	motivation answers and training you need to achieve your goals. This is our interview
0:11.0	series where runners coaches and proven experts come on our show to teach you what they've learned along the way
0:16.3	So you can grab as much information as possible and apply directly to improve your running right now
0:21.1	All of our previous episodes are available at runnersconnect.net
0:24.5	or you can subscribe to our iTunes feed to get updated as soon as we post new interviews.
0:29.6	On today's show we have Mark Kugazella. Mark is a professor of family medicine at West Virginia
0:34.2	University School of Medicine. Mark has been a competitive runner for 30 years
0:37.8	completing over 70 marathons and altars and continues to compete as a
0:41.8	national levels master runner.
0:43.4	His marathon best is 224 and he has run 244 in Marathon 24 of the last 25 years.
0:49.7	He won the 2011 Air Force Marathon in 238, a week shy of his 44th birthday.
0:55.0	He attributes much of this longevity to good running form and minimalist principles.
0:59.0	Mark is also the director, executive director of the National Running Center, an education portal and network of stores designed to teach healthier running and promoting more natural footwear.
1:08.0	He hosts educational conferences in collaboration with the Running Clinic Canada and speaks nationally on topics related to running, health, and injury prevention.
1:16.0	Mark also owns Two Rivers Treds, a center for natural running and walking in his hometown of Shepherdstown, West Virginia.
1:23.0	Mark's innovative work in Story has been featured in the New York Times, NPR, Outside magazine,
1:28.4	Running Times, Runner's World, Air Force Times, and the Washington Post, as well as other medical and media outlets.
1:34.0	Mark is joining us on our show today to discuss barefoot and minimalist running and how you can safely make the transition.
1:39.0	Without further ado, let's get starting.
1:42.0	Hi Mark, welcome to the show show I appreciate you taking the time today to share your wisdom with us about
	...

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