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Keith modified his own race shoes. He took the 2017 Saucony Endorphin Racer to a shoemaker to have holes cut out for his hammer toes and had them stretched for width. His preferred shoe — the Xero HFS — fits perfectly but feels clunky due to the plastic sole at lower speeds. His ideal shoe would be the HFS with a rubber sole and a small midsole.
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The OYF / Bahe shoe collaboration is progressing. Keith and Heidi have been working with a London shoe company on a shoe designed to feel like running barefoot on grass — flat, flexible, wide toe box, rubber sole with a small midsole for rebound. Factory test samples have been made and Keith, Heidi, and coach Mark Cannings are each receiving a pair to test imminently.
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Super shoes are real — but they don't develop running quality. Keith was beaten by 30 seconds in a 10K by a younger runner in super shoes running at 220 cadence with a "walking action". Two weeks later in a cross-country race — barefoot vs no super shoes — Keith beat the same runner by a minute. His view: carbon shoes help in the short term but don't build the underlying movement patterns that produce lasting improvement.
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The rebound feeling disappears as you get faster — and that's correct. When stationary, the rebound is felt clearly through the hamstrings, glutes, and feet. As you start moving it becomes absorbed into the running action and produces smoothness instead. Keith feels it most clearly at around 4:00/km pace — below that it feels clunky, above it becomes effortless and invisible. Don't try to manufacture the rebound feeling while running — just let the starting off routine establish it and then go.
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Keith's stride length increased by 0.45cm with no conscious effort. Comparing his 10K this year (sub-37 min) to last year (37:40), his heart rate and cadence were identical. The entire improvement came from a fractionally longer stride — which Keith attributes to getting slightly higher off the ground through increased strength. Stride length in OYF running comes from height off the ground, not from reaching forward.
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Calf soreness during transition usually means too much forefoot pressure. If you're lifting your feet too high at the back, you're likely running too much on the forefoot — putting excess load on the calf muscles. The fix is to check technique via a side-view video and post it to the OYF Facebook group. Wearing slightly thicker shoes moves the pressure higher up the calf rather than eliminating it.
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The Game Changer drill addresses the three most common technique errors at once. Most runners: throw the leg forward (low and slow), run at low cadence, and sit back on landing. The Game Changer drill corrects all three simultaneously — body tilted forward, high fast butt kicks, then gradually transitioning to balanced whole-foot landings as movement begins.
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Keith caps his training at 60km per week and refuses to run with poor technique. At 68 he prioritises quality over quantity — long runs are 13–15km maximum. If a hard track session leaves him with tight calves or hamstrings, he backs off immediately. His prediction: he will run faster next year and the year after, purely from accumulated strength and consistency, not increased mileage.
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The OYF Spanish edition is in production. The French edition is already available. Spanish is next, targeting the large US Spanish-speaking market. Keith notes that roughly 55% of OYF sales come from the UK and 45% from the US — remarkable given the population difference. Hindi subtitles are available on the videos thanks to community member Pragnesh.
"I ran the cross-country barefoot two weeks later — he didn't have his super shoes on — and I beat him by a minute. That tells you everything."
Keith on super shoes vs natural running technique
"You don't feel the rebound when you're going faster. It becomes absorbed in the running action and just produces a very smooth, classy, efficient, and fast action."
Keith on why the rebound feeling disappears at pace
"I refuse to run with poor technique. Quality, not quantity. Technique, technique, technique — and let the rest develop."
Keith on his training philosophy at 68
"My heart rate was exactly the same, my cadence was exactly the same. The entire 45-second improvement over 10K came from my stride length being 0.45 of a centimetre longer."
Keith comparing his 10K year-on-year
"When I was 45 I was asked if I wanted a pensioner's discount — I was hobbling around with runner's knee in both knees. Now, absolutely no problems at all. Just from changing technique and getting rid of the chunky shoes."
Keith on the long-term transformation from OYF
0:00Welcome — early morning Sydney, evening UK/Germany
~2:00Race shoe choice — Saucony Endorphin Racer 2017, why not Xero or Altra, shoe modifications
~8:00Super shoes debate — carbon plates, 220 cadence "walking action", cross-country test result
~12:00OYF / Bahe shoe collaboration — design goals, rubber sole, small midsole, test samples imminent
~18:00The rebound feeling — when you feel it, when it disappears, what it means in motion
~28:00Game Changer drill — the three most common errors, how the drill addresses all three
~35:00Stride length and speed — 0.45cm gain, height off ground, physics of stride extension
~44:00Calf soreness in transition — forefoot pressure, thicker shoes moving load up the leg, side-view video advice
~52:00Slow running and ultra running — is slow running useful, ultra runner technique observations
~58:00Training volume and longevity — 60km/week cap, quality over quantity, 68-year-old perspective
~65:00OYF editions — French, Spanish, Hindi subtitles, global readership breakdown
~72:00Closing — next session planned for August, come run in Sydney