So there I was, minding my own business on treadmill # 3, listening to podcasts on my iPhone when the young lady at the counter comes walking toward me. She make eye contact. I avoid eye contact and keep running. She gets closer and makes a motion to take out my Yurbuds. I avoid eye contact. She is standing right front of the mill waving at me.
I relent.
She tells me to stop running. Why? I ask. She says I can’t run barefoot. Why not? I ask. She says you just can’t. Is there a rule? I ask. She says yes. Show it to me. I say. She says ok, but please stop running.
I relent.
I slip my flips back on and walk over to the desk. She and another woman tell me I can’t run barefoot. Why not? I ask again. It’s the rules they say. Show me, I ask.
Well, I’m pretty sure it’s in the contract. OK, show me then, I say. They sort of ignore me for a bit while they flip through the contract and shuffle some papers. The second lady comes back and says it’s a health issue. Show me where it says it’s a health issue. Well what if you have *-----* on your feet, and it gets on the treadmill, we can’t have that now can we. What about the locker room, I ask. Well, you are supposed to wear flips in there. Show me, I say. Then the first girl says it’s a safety issue, that you could catch your toe on the edge and there would be blood everywhere. Uh, ok. There are a thousand ways to injure yourself in a gym, and I’m pretty sure I signed a waiver when I signed up.
So. They pull out this MASSIVE book and tell me they are POSITIVE the rule that requires me to wear shoes in this gym is in there somewhere, but they can’t take the time to find it today. Ok, look it up and let me know tomorrow.
I left my email, telephone number and blog address.
I went and changed into my vibrams and went to wait for another mill as my got stolen as I was getting scolded.
Ok, they are worried about my health or the health of others. I won’t walk barefoot in the change room, are you freaking kidding? At least the treadmill has shod runners on it! haha! And if they were so worried about the health and safety of us patrons, they wouldn’t have a shared floor and drain trough in the showers…
If they don’t get back to me by tomorrow like they promised, I am going to go for a barefoot run there, because obviously they have no problem with it.
I personally think, they just decided that this CAN’t be right and there must be a rule somewhere. My question is… Aren’t the Yoga classes all barefoot?
Seems like a pretty solid double standard!
I won’t say the name of the gym, but i’ll give you a hint. It starts with a ‘G’ and ends in a ‘oodlife Fitness McKenzie town’.
That’s all I have to say about that. For now. Dammit. Does this make me a zealot?
Challenge rules
ReplyDeleteChallenge history
Challenge convention
Impossible is nothing.
So says an old Adidas ad hanging on my wall, and quite frankly I tend to agree. You're awesome Neil! Don't stop challenging. Lisa H.
Aren’t the Yoga classes all barefoot?
ReplyDeleteI did not think of that.
- Hey Anon - great ad!
OUTRAGE!!!!! fight the power!!!!!
ReplyDeleteDiscrimination, to be sure! In all seriousness, it's a pile of crap.
ReplyDeleteDude, sorry that sucks, more that your run got interrupted and they didn't even hold the mill for you. We have a rule in our club that shoes are required in the WEIGHT area, for insurance purposes (ie, you break your foot if a weight falls on it). With the growing barefoot movement, they'll have to make some exceptions. Your so right, the locker room is a petrie dish of filthy bacteria and shoes are required there. Esp, the wet shower section and steam room. Hope they can't find it in the contract! :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a pile of crap they are shoveling.
ReplyDeleteIn the immortal words of MR. Cash: "Well I won't back down, no I won't back down - You can stand me up at the gates of hell - But I won't back down"
Honestly, It is not like people walk around in the gym with steel toed shoes. If a weight fell on your foot in a shoe it would be a bad scene all around. The treadmill, is not a weight room.
ReplyDeleteI know for a fact that the yucks on the bottom of people's shoes are way more gross than those on our bare feet that stay mostly protected in our day to day shoes.So really you in your bare feet are more at risk from the people who wear the shoes! Crazy!
Oh that makes me so dang mad!
ReplyDeleteThis doesn't make you a zealot. Running outside in Vibrams in Calgary winter makes you a zealot. Rage against the machine! Or on the machine.
ReplyDeleteSame thing happened to me. When it did my husband said, well duh.. it's a safety issue. REally?? Because my feet flat on the treadmill are safer than up on those thick heeled shoes.
ReplyDeleteI know in the States they often cite health rules but as far as I know there is no state regulation in any of the states against being barefoot. I doubt very much private health clubs have those rules in their contracts either. I am sure that now, that barefooting is becoming more popular they WILL put some disclaimer in.
ReplyDeleteI would talk to the manager.
Aren't members also supposed to wipe down their machines?
ReplyDeleteAnd line up properly for the group classes?
And the club is supposed to give you 'good' customer service?
Someone running barefoot is the least of Goodlife's issues - hence why I quit 'em last year.
You should ask them to wash the treadmills for you.
ReplyDeleteI will be anxious to see what they come up with...
ReplyDeleteone phrase "Human Rights Commission" ... you can always win there if you complain
ReplyDeletereally curious to see how your next trip to the gym goes! hope you get to run barefoot!
ReplyDeleteThey are on a total power trip. That is so lame. Yoga, pilates, shower, some dance classes you are barefoot.
ReplyDeletehad this same thing go down in my gym. I think it's nuts.
ReplyDeletethey told the woman it was a "hygiene" issue.
which
cracked
me
up.
As she was running next to a guy who, I swear, was pouring sweat all over the machine [and others from his elbows-------ewwwww].
Nice.
ReplyDeleteHygiene issue? What about people who wear their street shoes into the gym with dog sh*t all over the bottom?
I walked into the gym the other day, heading towards the treadmills, and this guy starts yelling at me telling me I can't wear my Vibrams in there. I politely asked him "Why not? They completely cover my feet just like any other pair of shoes?" The conversation went no where until another employee overheard the "discussion" and walked over to me and said "You can wear them." Our gym does have a big sign with several rules regarding footwear, none of which exclude the Vibrams.
Challenge rules
ReplyDeleteChallenge history
Challenge convention
Impossible is nothing.
Also KNOW AND TEACH HISTORY. Going barefoot in a gym WAS convention. During the 1970s. Many body builders lifted barefoot. Look at Arnold. Seeing people barefoot in a gym was normal. This "liability" line they are feeding you is all fake, a total lie to cover up an appearance based dress code. Sometime during the 1980s gyms turned from hard, tough, rough-around-the-edges places to "trendy" places to meet singles, and you had to "look" the part - get dressed up in those new squeaky-clean workout clothes and latest shoes. It was about making the gym a upscale place. That is how this no bare feet thing started, but today's young people who work there do not know this history, so they are fed the liability line, and feed it back to you.
Obnoxious. Doubly obnoxious because you lost your machine, too. Hopefully a respectful discussion with the manager clears things up. Like somebody else said, I'd be more worried about what your feet might be picking up than leaving behind.
ReplyDeleteDon't they know who you are ??????????? I hate gyms ! No offense to anyone employed at one. I frequent one quite regularly. On one hand I could see there safety point ? I GUESS. On THE OTHER HAND I say sod off !! Not hurting you, or the equipment in whch I'm paying rent on every freakin month.
ReplyDeleteBoo.
ReplyDeleteHippy tree hugger always banging your drum!!!!
ReplyDeleteJust kidding.
If they provide you with the rule, then maybe it is a loop hole for you to get out of the contract.
Nobody likes someone who makes waves, that's why I say, CANNONBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bummer they dragged you off the 'mill. It's their gym, their machine, their rules, even if they don't make sense. You are right to challenge them and make them show you the rule. If there isn't one, there will be soon I'll bet, and that's your out, saying they are changing the terms of the deal you signed and it's no longer acceptable. If there is one, well, I guess you're going to be wearing shoes or going somewhere else.
ReplyDeleteI think you should still push (gently) on this one. Again, I sweat more than your feet do... (yes I'm that guy who drips sweat all over the machine... at home)
ReplyDeletePS why not just buy your own dreadmill? Costco has decent ones for decent prices. I can run however I want to on mine!
I would have to say that I agree with them. I would have stopped you too.
ReplyDeleteToo problematic. Running barefoot is great, but on a treadmill that others use????
The bottom of your feet are pretty vulnerable to cracks and thus blood, warts, etc. Why can't you wear your vibrams or some other minimalist shoe?
I just think the request for me to not run barefoot on the treadmill is unreasonable, based on the general nature use of the gym and where people are allowed to and encouraged to go barefoot. In the same facility no less.
ReplyDeleteIt would seem that I alone am at risk while running barefoot on the treadmill, which would make almost every other activity in the gym equally too dangerous and too dirty to allow participation in, if I use their reasoning.
That's all. Thanks very much for the counterpoint tho Jumper2.0, it's nice to get a differing view in a sane debate.
People are more likely to bring sh$# onto the treadmill from shoes than bare feet. That is ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteNeil, you alone are at risk while running barefoot on the treadmill if you are the only one running barefoot on the treadmill. That seems to be the assumption with your argument. Which granted, is probably true at this time.
ReplyDeleteBut, if you take that risk and add other people, I think you can see where the treadmill can become a problem as opposed to other areas that you just walk around on. Do you want to wear my used socks and while your at it? Underwear? ;-)
And Chris K, wouldn't your argument support not letting people use the treadmill barefoot? To protect the barefoot runner?
Maybe somebody ingenious will come up with a good barefoot friendly treadmill? IDK! I would like the opportunity to run barefoot inside some myself.
The risk I assume is one that barefooters assume as a group. It is a known risk, and we all embrace the risk. I'm not talking about the risk of infection or disease, as anyone can contract anything from anywhere, gaaaa to the locker room, but the risk of putting ourselves out there to just run barefoot. It unconventional, unstudied, and just plain strange in a world of expensive shoes and fear rhetoric but I'm telling you, I will never go back, even with the all the bs that gets poured over my head that it is wrong. It's not wrong, it's just the way I run.
ReplyDeleteI am a barefoot runner. Deal with it.
Neil, I don't know if your last comment is rhetorical or addressedto me? My concern is only the moving belt, not the barefoot or the surface itself. I, ppersonally will never be a barefoot runner, except as intervals on the field from time to time. I do believe in minimalization though. I just ran a whole marathon in Saucony Fasttwitch 4 shoes that "they" recommend only for up to 15k.
ReplyDeleteBut, I also think there is a part of you that was expecting this. Why didn't you ask before the run knowing it's unusual? I hope that you do find a way to run barefoot indoors. My recommendation is getting your own treadmill. Good luck. I'll be hanging around your blog unless you rather I not.
No, not directed at anyone Tim. Just a rambling thought. I didn't ask for fear of being told no. I need a place to practice. I would love to get a treadmill, wanna buy me one?
ReplyDeleteAnd you are most welcome here, of course! Can always use a little more testosterone at these here blogs. Am I right guys? *fist bump* HoooAAHHH!!! *fart*
Oh, and their treadmills are fine for barefoot, I just have to keep my focus, as I do outside, keeping my form and stride rate.
Solution: A treadmill in your dining room like me. :)
ReplyDeleteYou made so many good points. People don't think this through. There is lots of awful stuff on the bottom of shoes. What about hands? There's lots of awful stuff on people's hands. What about people, who, you know, don't recite the whole alphabet while they are soaping up their hands in the lavatory (I read an article that you have to wash your hands for the amount of time it takes to say the alphabet or the germs don't come off)? They have to hold on to the bars and handles of the equipment. What if you sneeze on the equipment or spit?
ReplyDeleteAnd that was a good point about the Yoga and bare feet.
And also a good point about how many other ways you can get hurt in a gym. I mean there are a LOT of other ways you can get hurt in a gym -- much much worse.
You never stop to think about it until someone makes you stop to think about it!
And you're not a zealot. You're just someone who took a little time to stop to think about it.
Oh, look, here's an article (freshly Googled) that comments on some common causes of treadmill injuries. http://www.articlesbase.com/equipment-articles/treadmill-injuries-what-are-the-reasons-behind-them-1107085.html
ReplyDeleteThe very first cause mentioned? Shoes!!
They do not mention bare feet as a cause of treadmill injuries.
People way overestimate the risks of going barefoot. They go off half-cocked without even thinking their learned rhetoric through to see if it is reasonable or consistent. What exactly are you going to get from a treadmill, even with other barefooters using it, that you are not going to get from other areas of the floor? Blood and warts? Puleeese. Other people's sweat? Hardly a biggie. I'd be far more worried about the various body fluids I'm swallowing in the pool or the germs on all the door handles. But they don't even think about making you wear gloves, because that would be ridiculous, wouldn't it.
ReplyDeleteAnd did those staff members put on gloves before flipping through the rule book? People get paper cuts really easily you know. What if they bleed all over the place It's a hygene thing.
And what about all the other hazards you face using a treadmill. You are just as likely to stumble and fall, skinning your knees. Do they make you wear trousers or knee pads? I mean, you are running on a moving surface. How dangerous is that! Are you insane?!!! You will twist an ankle for sure!
No, it is the appearance of safety, not the actuality that motivates them.
We live in such a shoe-addicted society that the mere thought of being barefoot in public is alarming to many, many people. For at least two generations we have been brainwashing our children to believe that shoes are a modern necessity, that going barefoot is unnatural, unsafe, unhealthy, illegal... against the rules. These girls were certainly doing what they believed was right, but they were wrong. It takes education and time to undo years of conditioning. You have been thinking about feet/shoes for a long time, they have not; it's completely new to them.
ReplyDeleteI was kicked out of my gym, too. In time I tjink readon will dispel the myths and our feet can be free. Until then, we educate and lead by example. Keep up the good work "zealot."
Daniel Howell
http://www.thebarefootbook.com
"Does this make me a zealot?"
ReplyDeleteNope. You have been a zealot long before this.
Absolute craziness. Uninformed people. Their excuses are laughable.
ReplyDeleteIf you were a sue happy person I am sure that you could sue on grounds of discrimination.
Yeah, move on and leave a (not so) nice Yelp review.