The Footprint — Tuesday 26 May
Savannah Wild ran 50km barefoot in five hours eight minutes.
That's the headline of the week. Wild, 27, from Kelowna in BC, broke the Guinness World Record for the women's barefoot 50K on Sunday — 5:08:11 at a track in Greater Vernon, beating the previous mark by nearly two hours. Two years ago she was hit by a truck while cycling and broke her neck. Now she's running fifty kilometres on a track with no shoes on.
The thing worth pausing on is the gap she beat the record by. Two hours. That's not "edged it." That's "the previous record was set by someone with mild interest and the new one was set by someone deciding to actually try." The barefoot ultra category is wide open. The talent pool is tiny. Someone with a genuine running background and serious mental commitment is going to chew through these records over the next few years, and Wild has just shown what the new floor looks like.
It also reframes something worth saying out loud. Barefoot purists like to claim minimalist shoes are a compromise. Wild ran 50 kilometres of asphalt with literally nothing between her foot and the ground, and finished smiling. Most of us aren't ready for that and probably never will be. But it puts the "are barefoot shoes too extreme?" question in perspective. They're not extreme at all.
Notace Michi 1 is finally shipping.
After a couple of years in pre-release, the Notace Michi 1 is properly out. Believe in the Run's recent review pegged it at 180g for a US M9 — properly light — with eTPU midsole, mesh upper, and a clean visual design that doesn't scream "I am a barefoot shoe." The pitch is barefoot construction with everyday-shoe aesthetics, which puts it in roughly the same conceptual space as Lems but lighter and more athletic. Worth watching.
Sales worth knowing about.
REI's Anniversary Sale is on right now with 25% off select Vivobarefoot, Xero, and Merrell barefoot models — if you're US-based and you've been waiting to grab something, this is the window. Vivobarefoot is also running variable codes (the 25% codes circulating online are real and working for most users — search "Vivobarefoot discount code May 2026" and try whichever pops up first).
Run light,
Lachlan