When Kristopher Wood leaves his Red Hook, Brooklyn, apartment to head to the starting line of tomorrow’s marathon, he’ll have one less piece of equipment to worry about — his sneakers.
That’s right. Wood, a 35-year-old programmer, is running the entire 26.2 miles completely barefoot.
“I’ve been running through a lot of back streets where sometimes it’s all rubble and glass,” says Wood, whose long training runs take him through Brooklyn, over the Manhattan Bridge and up the West Side of Manhattan.
Wood isn’t participating in some sort of monastic self-flagellation.
Rather, he’s part of a growing number of New Yorkers who’ve said bon voyage to their sneakers and embraced the idea that running barefoot promotes proper form, thereby preventing most injuries that plague long-distance runners.
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“I think a lot of people are under the impression that someone has stolen my shoes, and I’m running after them,” quips the second-time marathoner who ditched his running shoes about a year ago because his knees began to bother him.
He began his barefoot odyssey with funky “five-finger” wetsuit shoes that are made by Vibram, then went the full monty.
After a recent 19-mile barefoot run through the city, Wood didn’t need to ice his body or stretch out thoroughly. “The knees feel great. I feel a complete difference,” he swears.
The shoeless movement gained momentum after the 2009 publication of the tome “Born To Run,” which chronicled the extreme running conditions of Mexico’s Tarahumara Indians, who cover hundreds of miles barefoot while chasing prey.
The transformative book by author Christopher McDougall has spawned legions of devotees around the world, as well as here in the Big Apple, where West Village resident Viet Nguyen is also running the marathon sans shoes.
“I tried three pairs of running sneakers. They were nice . . . and expensive, but there was too much cushion,” says the 36-year-old software engineer.
He did some research and ended up tossing his shoes altogether.
“I [now] have the sensation that my body is absorbing the landing, and shoes don’t give you that feedback,” says Nguyen. He’s since become a barefoot disciple.
“It’s a completely normal, natural thing to do, but since shoes have been invented, they’ve been pretty popular,” says Daniel Lieberman, a professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard who published a study on the biomechanics of barefoot runners.
“Sometimes when people wear shoes, they run in a bad way. The support of running shoes enables people to run with a form that you can’t get away with barefoot,” he adds.
While urban debris might make the streets of Gotham seem an unlikely place to eschew shoes, running experts say the smooth pavement is pitch-perfect for the prehistoric running form.
“I’ve taken my shoes off my feet, but I left my eyes in my head,” says Chris Hawson, who heads up the New York chapter of the Barefoot Runners Society.
Hawson, 56, an Upper West Side resident, has logged 3,000 barefoot miles in Manhattan in the past two years. “It’s a minimal risk of injury,” Hawson says of running on the city pavement.
Nguyen says he finds New Yorkers unfazed by the sight of bare feet.
“It’s a growing trend here, but when I travel to other places, people are shocked when they see me [running barefoot],” says Nguyen, who is hoping for a race time of four hours and 15 minutes. “In New York, people are more aware of barefoot running.”
Though running barefoot is increasingly popular in the running community, there are experts who say sole-to-pavement jogging is playing with fire.
“Some people say the caveman is a perfect example of how walking barefoot is safe and not harmful to the body,” says Dr. Rock Positano, director of non-surgical foot and ankle service at the Hospital for Special Surgery.
“What they don’t mention is that the average caveman didn’t live past age 20. It’s not a very good comparison.”
Running a marathon barefoot is a “nightmare in the making,” he says. “The feet will be screaming for mercy — [as will] the shins, knees, hips and back.”
Undeterred, Wood and Nguyen insist their bodies have absorbed less wear and tear. And their feet are much less callused than they were before they went au naturel.
“My friends are always surprised when they touch my feet. [Running barefoot] is like a natural pumice stone,” says Nguyen.
Wood agrees.
“You also tend to be more aware, and you see the glass before you step on it. And you build up the soles of your feet, so you don’t feel the small pebbles,” says Wood, who has seen his running group, headed by barefoot guru John Durant, double in size within the past year.
But one element the pair won’t battle is the cold. Wood wears Vibrams when the temperature drops, and Nguyen sports minimal racing flats.
“If it’s 35 degrees or above, I can get away with no shoes. I know people go on snow, but I’m not there yet,” Nguyen admits.
kirsten.fleming@nypost.com