Is the Best Shoe No Shoe at All?

UNTIL he met a reclusive tribe of near-mythical athletes at the bottom of a Mexican canyon, the late Micah True, aka Caballo Blanco, could never figure out why his running injuries got worse as his running shoes got better. Then, the Tarahumara Indians taught him a lesson that even Nike is now starting to embrace: the best shoe may be no shoe at all.

True wasn't the only one baffled by the injury mystery. For years kinesiology professors, physical therapists and athletic-shoe designers have been puzzling over the same paradox: if running shoe protection and cushioning have improved, why haven't injuries among joggers decreased?