t was a near-death rollerblading accident in 2006 that led Michael Sandler to get in touch with the earth beneath his bare feet.

The accident shattered his femur, and doctors told the professional athlete and coach that he would be lucky to walk again and would never be able to run.

"If there was ever anyone who shouldn't have gotten into barefoot running, it was me," Sandler said.

Now, those bare feet carry him 10-20 miles per day on all surfaces, including asphalt, trails, gravel and snow.

Sandler, 39, and his fiancée, Jessica Lee, 29, both from Colorado, recently spoke about the unusual style of shoeless running at REI Pittsburgh-Settlers Ridge. The couple said because it forces one to run on the forefoot rather than the rear of the foot, barefoot running produces a lighter and more natural stride than running in shoes. That type of stride is what Mother Nature intended, Sandler said, and allows the entire leg to act as a shock absorber, resulting in fewer injuries.

Moreover, Sandler said running shoes can be unstable, inflexible and can actually weaken the feet, knees and hips. Running barefoot has the opposite effect.

"The foot is an amazing mechanical device. It gets stronger under tension," he said.

Sandler has a titanium hip and femur due to his accident, but says he runs faster barefoot than he ever ran in shoes.

"It's about finding a way to feel the ground," he said.

Following the accident, he couldn't accept what doctors told him. He began walking, then jogging, but became frustrated at the resulting soreness. Then one day after taking off his running shoes and limping home, he read an article by an orthopedic surgeon who touted the benefits of barefoot running. The article said the perceived cushioning of running shoes harms the feet, leading to injuries.

"I thought, let the ground experiment begin," Sandler said.

He started slowly, running 100 yards barefoot, then 200 yards and beyond. Within three months, he was running barefoot in 10K races.

In 2009, Sandler met Lee, who at the time was sidelined from running due to knee pain. Sandler convinced her to try it barefoot.

"I was amazed at how quickly my feet were adapting," she said.

The couple took a huge leap of faith, leaving full-time jobs and starting a barefoot running club in Boulder.

"It felt like putting on a blindfold and stepping off a cliff," Sandler said.

But the cliff never materialized. Sandler and Lee wrote and published "Barefoot Running: How to Run Light and Free by Getting in Touch with the Earth" (RunBare Publishing, 2010) and started a company, RunBare, that teaches barefoot running.

Now the duo travels the country touting their sport, financed by their company and book sales.

Barefoot running is rare in competition, but has gained interest, spurred by the 2009 bestseller "Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World has Never Seen" (Knopf) by Christopher McDougall. Athletic shoemakers quickly caught on. A variety of "minimalist" shoes are available that mimic barefoot running, but give feet some protection.

Still, the overall number of barefoot runners is small and will probably remain so, said podiatrist William Lenz. In practice in the Pittsburgh region for 29 years, Dr. Lenz said there is no research that proves injuries are caused by running shoes and not the running itself.

"Anything we do repetitively creates microtrauma," he said. "If half the world starts barefoot running, then we'll have some clear data that show whether it's really avoiding injuries."

Lenz said barefoot running makes sense mechanically, but causes injuries such as cuts and bruising, which makes it impractical for a lot of people.

"I think it will remain a small fringe of people," he said.

Some competitive runners also question the practicality. Chris Gibson, a marathoner and manager of the Westin Workout Facility, Downtown, said barefoot running requires a slow start.

"I'm not sure how patient we are with that," he said, adding that starting during the offseason could be difficult due to inclement weather. Gibson also noted that most well-known barefoot runners, including Olympic marathoner Zola Budd, are from African nations, where runners are smaller and lighter than Americans and children grow up running barefoot. But Gibson said he may try it.

"I want to be objective and know what the benefits are," he said.

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