How I ran Spartan Race in hand-made barefoot shoes

This August, I ran the Spartan Race. That might not be so unusual, but I ran it in handmade barefoot shoes. Why and how did I manage it? That’s exactly what this article is about.

Me and sports

My name is Karolína Částková. I’m a doctor and lecturer of barefoot shoe sewing courses, as well as a mother of four children. I’m 39 years old. Since childhood, I have enjoyed pushing myself and loved challenges. However, I admit that after four births in six years, ten years of breastfeeding and interrupted sleep, burnout from my marriage and business, I haven’t been quite myself in recent years. My physical condition deteriorated rapidly. I suffered from severe back pain, especially in my cervical spine. I thought I would never feel as good in my body as I used to.

It’s not that I didn’t do anything for myself. I’ve been practising yoga for a long time, and it helps me a lot. But I couldn’t manage other systematic activities. Sometimes I went for a run, sometimes I went hiking, but mostly I sat at the computer and worked or walked at a snail’s pace with my children. They say that you get enough exercise with children, but it’s not the right kind of exercise. Lifting and carrying children, bending over to tidy up toys, and working in the kitchen did more harm than good to my back and fitness. 

I see this period as an inevitable part of my life. But for some time now, it has not suited me. I needed to devote more time to myself. And as my children grew older, I was finally able to make some time for myself. I have a positive relationship with sports. But I admit that I was often overcome by laziness and fatigue and couldn’t bring myself to do it. I needed some motivation. 

Why Spartan Race?

And why did I choose the Spartan Race as the driving force behind my sporting activities? Originally, it was supposed to be a joint activity with my 9-year-old son. He likes running and racing, but he hasn’t been doing much sport lately, so I took it as motivation for both of us. He also likes taking various challenges, so he agreed to sign up for the race. We signed up in March 2025, and the race was to take place at the end of August. It seemed like we had enough time to prepare. 

However, man plans, life changes. Unexpected events also got in the way: moving, furnishing a new home, homeschooling exams, vacations, and a reluctance to do anything purposeful. Especially his reluctance. I finally started exercising during the holidays. I managed to find a like-minded partner, so it went well. But Lukas wanted to rest during the holidays and had absolutely no desire to push himself. So we didn’t train together.

I admit that I was a little disappointed at first. But life has taught me that I can’t do anything else but lead by example. If I forced him, he wouldn’t enjoy the exercise, and we would just argue unnecessarily. And above all, his decision not to train was a conscious one. He figured that running 2-3 km and overcoming 10 obstacles would be a piece of cake. Those were the parameters of the children’s race for his age category.

My first Spartan Race

I wasn’t so sure about myself. I completed one Spartan Race about 13 years ago. Even though I was in the best shape of my life at the time, I was shocked by how difficult it was. Maybe it was because I didn’t know exactly what I was getting myself into. I didn’t find out anything about the race beforehand, so I went there quite unprepared. Anyway, I managed it back then. But now, with my current fitness level, it will be something completely different.

Training

So I exercised without my son, either alone or with a friend. I rode a scooter, a bike, I ran, and sometimes I added a little weight training with my own body weight. All of this in handmade barefoot shoes. But I’ll elaborate on that later. On August 1, I realised that I hadn’t been training specifically for the race; I had just added more exercise to my life. That scared me a little because the race date was approaching. I needed some motivation again, so I made a series of Facebook stories about how I was preparing for the Spartan Race. At least the (almost) daily Stories forced me to establish some regularity.

Training problems

I managed the running. But then my chronically weakened left wrist started to hurt, and I couldn’t even do 10 push-ups. A few days before the race, I read the instructions and was horrified to discover that the penalty for failing an obstacle was not 20 burpees as before, but 30. When I tried to do them all at once, I realised there was no way I could do it. However, I decided it would be better to let my wrist rest than to strain it even more. The day before the race, I started thinking about giving up. But that wouldn’t be me. And I didn’t want to set an example for my son by giving up without even trying.

So I took a deep breath and told myself that I would give it a try. That I would give it my all and let go of my expectations. I had no expectations of the result; my goal was just to get through it. But I allowed myself to admit that I might not be able to do it. However, I wanted to give it a try. My strategy was to successfully overcome as many obstacles as possible so that I wouldn’t have to do penalty burpees. However, it was clear to me that I wouldn’t be able to overcome them all.

Preparing equipment

The day before the race, I felt compelled to buy more suitable clothing. I love natural materials, but I assumed there would be obstacles where we would get wet, and I didn’t want to run in two extra pounds of cotton. This turned out to be a good decision. I didn’t worry about shoes. I already had a pair of almost worn-out leather barefoot shoes that I had sewn myself, and I didn’t mind wearing them out during the race. My opinion was it was better to run in what I was used to than to rush out and buy new shoes at the last minute. And all the running shoes had insanely narrow toes and high soles. After 8 years of barefoot running, I probably wouldn’t even be able to walk in them. So I decided running in my hand-made barefoot shoes.

I bought athletic tape for my hurting wrist and gloves to protect my hands. But I didn´t use the gloves. However, the tape was helpful.

The Race day

We set off in the morning. We arrived on time and found a parking spot in the adjacent meadow. The parking lots were already full. I started at 11:20. From those who started earlier, I already knew that the third obstacle was swimming across the lake, so I would be wet the whole time. Fortunately, it was warm, so it didn’t matter. Surprisingly, I managed to run even in wet leather shoes and didn’t feel much difference compared to when they were dry. I had trained for running in the terrain. I realised that running in thin soles helped me read the terrain better. Most of the obstacles were manageable.

However, I couldn’t do the climbing, the hand-over-hand on the structure where the bars were really far apart, and I didn’t manage the javelin throw on my first attempt. Overall, I had to do about 120 penalty burpees. And that took me a long time. I wasn’t concerned about time, so I did 5-7 repetitions and took breaks. It was still tough, but I managed it…

The surprise of the day

Imagine my surprise when, at the last obstacle, my son, who had started at 12:35, ran towards me! He had just finished and came to cheer me on. He said it was a piece of cake and that next time he would like to compete in a more difficult category… I was a little taken aback by his energy, as I was barely catching my breath. After finishing the last obstacle, and hurray, the finish line was in front of me!

I ran to the finish line, received a medal for participating, and felt really good about it! I was euphoric all day, until my muscles started to hurt extremely in the evening. After all, it was a really unusual strain for me. I appreciated how much relief the sports massage my boyfriend gave me provided.

What did the race give me?

And that’s the end of the story about the Spartan Race. What did it give me? A desire to do sports. Through regular training, I discovered that sport is good for me, and my improving fitness motivates me to keep exercising regularly. I no longer have to push myself; it comes naturally. I received invitations by email to races elsewhere in Europe and realised that it’s a great way to discover new places. So next time, I might run somewhere other than the Czech Republic. The only thing I’ll do differently is sew myself some barefoot sneakers out of mesh that I can wash and dry after the race.

How I started running in hand-made barefoot shoes?

You may be wondering how I got into running in handmade barefoot shoes. Let me explain briefly…

When Lukas was about a year and a half old, I started sewing barefoot shoes. I had never worn barefoot shoes before, and my custom-made shoes were so comfortable that I didn’t feel the need to buy any others. For years, I made do with the ones I had sewn myself. Some time after the birth of my second son, I felt like starting running again. I pulled my running shoes out of the closet. They were a size too big, but I found that they were too narrow for me. In my custom-made shoes, my feet finally had enough room and no longer wanted to be squeezed into a narrow toe box.

So I went running in my usual barefoot shoes. But I didn’t run regularly. It wasn’t until two years ago that I started running a little more. How else than in hand-sewn barefoot shoes? I was already used to walking in them, but I admit that running was a whole different level. At first, my heels and Achilles tendons started to hurt. That might have discouraged some people. But I was equipped with information and, above all, the knowledge that for millions of years, people alternated between walking and running barefoot. It’s natural for our bodies, but by wearing unsuitable shoes, we’ve forgotten how to do it properly.

I consciously changed my running technique. I focused on not stomping on my heels and stepping more on my toes, and took smaller steps to reduce the shock my body was suffering. And voilà! I got used to it. My initial problems completely disappeared. And today I run like a deer in hand-sewn barefoot shoes.

Why I love running in hand-made barefoot shoes?

I admit I might not be as fast because I take smaller steps.

I admit, I might not be as explosive because my heels are not higher than my toes, and so I don’t fall forward. (This happens in running shoes and helps increase performance).

I admit I might never run marathons because my feet are more strained in hand-sewn barefoot shoes.

But:

• My muscles are not shortened. My centre of gravity is in the right position throughout the day, so I put equal strain on individual muscle groups.
• I have no injuries. Because I can feel every pebble, I adapt my movement to the terrain and am more careful when necessary.
• I am not overloaded. Because I don’t help myself with soft shoes, for example, I have no choice but to respect the natural capabilities of my body.

And if you want to have perfectly fitting custom-made shoes, I have something for you that you can’t do without. In our free PDF, you will find precise instructions on how to measure your feet correctly so that your shoes, whether purchased or custom-made, fit perfectly. Because having custom-made shoes is a whole new level of comfort!

Download the PDF for free here.

And if you want to have custom-made shoes made right away, check out our online courses.