George Washington University Researchers Find Variation in Foot Strike Patterns in Predominantly Barefoot Runners

A recently published paper by two George Washington University researchers shows that the running foot strike patterns vary among habitually barefoot people in Kenya due to speed and other factors such as running habits and the hardness of the ground. Kevin Hatala, a Ph.D. student in the Hominid Paleobiology doctoral programat George Washington, is the lead author of the paper in the recent edition of the journal Public Library of Science, or PLOS ONE, along with Brian Richmond, associate professor of anthropology within GW’s Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.