Barefoot running injuries (notably repetitive stress injuries) caused by heel striking in padded running shoes. The barefoot movement has prompted some manufacturers to introduce thin-soled and flexible shoes such as traditional moccasins and huaraches for minimalist running. Throughout most of human history, running was performed while barefoot or in thin-soled shoes such as moccasins. This practice continues today in Kenya and among the Tarahumara people of northern Mexico. Historians believe that the runners of Ancient Greece ran barefoot. According to legend, Pheidippides, the first marathoner, ran from Athens to Sparta in less than 36 hours. After the Battle of Marathon, it is
Erichthonius of Athens The most sacred building on the Acropolis of Athens, the Erechtheum, is dedicated to Erichthonius. Erichthonius of Athens In Greek mythology, King Erichthonius (; Ancient Greek: Ἐριχθόνιος) was a legendary early ruler of ancient Athens. According to some myths, he was autochthonous (born of the soil, or Earth) and raised by the goddess Athena. Early Greek texts do not distinguish between him and Erectheus, his grandson, but by the fourth century BC, during Classical times, they are distinct figures. Erichthonius of uncertain etymology is possibly related to a pre-Greek form *"Erekteu-". The connection of Ἐριχθόνιος with ἐρέχθω, "shake" is a