Yes, barefoot. Or more correctly, barefoot-style. George is one of a growing number of runners who have thrown away their traditional running shoes in favor of a bare-bones approach that emphasizes using the feet as they were designed, not encasing them in rubber and polymer.

Our feet, with 20 muscles and 26 bones each, were designed to move across a variety of surfaces unshod. If you think that hurts, then try to remember when you were a child running across the living room or the garage – or even the playground – without any shoes on. If it was fun for you as a three-year-old, why shouldn’t it be fun at 30, or 40, or at any other age?

George first heard of barefoot running when he read an article about Abebe Bikila, the Ethiopian runner who won the marathon in the 1960 Olympics – barefoot. “I just thought it was weird,” he says. Last year, however, George came across a study by a Harvard University team that showed that modern day humans are basically running the wrong way.

Most people run with the heels hitting the ground first, followed by the rest of the feet, ending up with the toes. It’s not our fault: heel strike is literally forced on us by the modern running shoe, which is designed with the heel as the biggest part.

According to the Harvard study, this high heel “makes it easier to heel strike because the sole below the heel is typically about twice as thick as the sole below the forefoot. So if your foot would tend to land flat when barefoot, it will land on the heel when in a shoe.”

But the same study says landing on the heels when we run subjects our body to up to three times our body weight. This is equivalent to “someone hitting you on the heel with a hammer using 1.5 to as much as three times your body weight. These impacts add up, since you strike the ground almost 1,000 times per mile!”

So how should we run? The study affirms how humans have run for ages before the invention of the running shoe: with a forefoot or midfoot strike, the kind of stride we do when we run barefoot – in other words, the way we used to run as little children. The Harvard study says this kind of collision “produces a very slow rise in force with no distinct impact transient. There is ESSENTIALLY NO IMPACT TRANSIENT (highlight theirs) in a forefoot strike. The same is true of some (but not all) midfoot strikes.”

“I thought Abebe Bikila was crazy,” George says, “and so was anyone attempting to do the same. But now, I have huge respect for barefoot runners.”

When he first took up running, George used his old Nike Alvords. “But I felt heavy and stiff, and on longer runs I felt a slight pain in the shin area. On the following run I ditched the shoes and went barefoot… It felt weird at first but I somehow enjoyed it because I felt no pain at all. I got a pair of VFFs the soonest they were available because I wanted to retain the ‘barefoot’ feel without worrying about being punctured by a rusty nail.”

Barefoot shoes?

The VFFs George is referring to are Vibram Fivefingers, footwear that look more like gloves than shoes because they have individual pockets for each toe. The soles are just thick enough to keep pebbles and broken glass from slicing the feet; otherwise, they offer absolutely no support for the feet – and that’s a good thing. The barefoot mindset believes that the feet are perfect the way they are – no need for support or correction.

For government employee Neil Jasper Merin, running this way just made sense since “our ancestors ran barefoot to hunt or to evade hunters.” But he says he also put into consideration that “we and the past generations have always been wearing shoes for almost every waking hour.” He first tried running barefoot with his wife at the beach in Little Boracay (in Sta. Maria, Davao del Sur) and found it to be exhilarating, and so he decided to buy VFFs through his mother in the US.

It used to be that hard for Davaoeños to get their hands, er, feet on VFFs since they were available only at the Powerplant Mall in Rockwell, but Chimes Specialty Store recently changed the game and started selling them. The store’s vice president for merchandising, Cindy Yap, first saw VFFs in the Today Show and in magazines before seeing the actual product at the VFF store at Powerplant.

“A friend who does yoga told me I should try it, so I bought a pair for my Pilates workout.” Cindy hasn’t run with her VFFs yet, but she has tried them on the treadmill and plans to take them out on the road this year.

Pleased with her new exercise shoes, Cindy contacted the official Philippine distributor last October and the two agreed to display VFFs at Chimes. “I feel there is a market for it here in Davao,” Cindy says. “The idea is not looks or fashion; it has a purpose and has features that are not seen in other shoes. VFFs have a lot of benefits.”

VFFs come in a variety of styles, and Davaoeños who are interested in exploring barefoot-style running can now try the VFFs at the ground floor of Chimes.

George and Neil plan to use their VFFs exclusively for their runs, and George has even used his pair in his work, which involves walking through roads-less-traveled (Neuraltech Innovations is a Davao-based technology startup that primarily designs and implements GPS-enabled systems and weather monitoring systems). Both are sold on barefoot-style running, and they hope to influence others to run the same way.Random Posts:

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“We’re not spearheading it,” Uy replied, “but we do follow government regulations.” He was referring to the 2006 Biofuel Act provides for a mandatory mixing of 1% of biodiesel in petrodiesel and 5% of ethanol in gasoline for the first four years (that is, up to 2010), to be increased thereafter to 2% and 10%, respectively. Phoenix may not be at the forefront of the oil industry in terms of environment protection, but it is at least taking the lead of government in making sure the earth’s resources are safeguarded for future generations.

Phoenix Foundation participates in the government’s “Adopt A School Program” through the Hizon Elementary School in Davao City. (Source: phoenixphilippines.com)

Besides, Phoenix is also doing its part  in other areas as a good corporate citizen. It’s called corporate social responsibility (CSR), and Phoenix engages in feeding programs, coastal cleanup, adopt-a-school, and other programs as its way of “giving back” to the community. According to its website, Phoenix “lives up to its core value of stewardship through projects in service of the community.”

“As stewards, we nurture our resources responsibly. By giving back, we contribute to elevating the quality of life of the people we help, because we believe that life comes first. The foundation’s primary purpose is to engage, support and or participate in social activities and functions geared towards the development, protection, alleviation, education and or empowerment of the needy, depressed and miserable members of the society,” the website continues.

‘A simple family venture’

That the main recipients of Phoenix’s CSR programs are communities in the Davao Region speaks of its commitment to its own roots. It was in Davao City that it was incorporated in 2002, and it was here that it established its roots — starting as “a simple family venture” —before growing into other areas of the country.

The company, then under the name Davao Oil Terminal Services Corporation (DOTSCO), began operations in its current form in January 2004, distributing petroleum products to various commercial entities in Mindanao. In August 2006, the company was officially renamed Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc. “The name was presented to us by our public relations consultants, and we liked it,” Uy said.

The phoenix, of course, is a a mythical bird that at the end of its life burns itself on a funeral pyre — from which it rises again with renewed youth to live through another cycle. As such it represents immortality and eternal youth — qualities that Uy wants the company to be associated with.

Today, Phoenix is engaged in the business of trading refined petroleum products, lubricants and other chemical products, operation of oil depots and storage facilities, and allied services, mainly in Southern Philippines. Its products and services are distributed and marketed under the “Phoenix Fuels Life” trademark.

Uy said the company is aiming to be the leading independent oil company in the Philippines within three years, a goal that is attainable considering that Phoenix is already the leading independent oil company in Mindanao. “Hopefully our success in Mindanao will translate to success in the rest of the country,” he said.

Out of nowhere

Phoenix Petroleum's president and CEO Dennis Uy (left) poses with this writer

And what a success it has been. Phoenix started its operations with just five stations in Mindanao: Digos City, Tagum City, Matanao in Davao del Sur, Bislig in Surigao del Sur, and Valencia in Bukidnon. Today there are 120 stations throughout the country: 97 in Mindanao, one in Cebu, and 22 in Manila. Uy said this represents an average growth of 30 stations per year, but in the coming years Phoenix is targeting to add 50 stations annually in order to reach the goal of becoming the leading independent oil company in the Philippines.

Uy said the company, which is the first and only publicly-listed independent player in the country since the Oil Deregulation Law of 1998, is also planning to build two to three depots each year. Phoenix is currently building a depot in Zamboanga to add to its depots in Davao, Calaca in Batangas, and New Washington in Aklan.

And now, from “out of nowhere” — as Uy himself described Phoenix — the company has garnered the 242nd spot in the top 10,000 companies in the Philippines in terms of revenue, based on records from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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He was a very pleasant man and gave a long interview with me and my wife Dadai (I am trying to search my files for the article I wrote so I can post it here). I do remember him giving this advice to Dadai, who is also an artist: Just keep painting. He said he painted every single day and would keep his good works in a chest, a treasure trove from which he could pull out gems whenever he needed it. One could wait for inspiration, he said, but nothing beats discipline. Even in art.

At the end of the interview my wife and I asked for autographs, and he did us one better by drawing sketches on our notebooks and signing them. I will try to find those sketches and scan them so I can post them here.

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Thankfully, the burger landscape in the city has changed over the past weeks with the entry of Brothers Burger, a ten-year-old all-Filipino brand that offers arguably the best burgers this side of the world. The Davao City franchise, located at the Damosa Business Park, soft-opened on November 6, and it has been opening up the palates of Davaoeños to a whole new experience in burgers.

The place itself is small, but that doesn’t seem to stop people from coming in, and in large numbers at that. When my wife and I went there one Wednesday afternoon, the place still had a number of customers even though it was well past lunchtime. Store operation specialist Arnel Macaganda, who had come in from Manila to oversee the opening stages of the franchise, said they have been overshooting their target sales by 40 percent — proving that when it comes to good food, price doesn’t matter for Davaoeños

Store operation specialist Arnel Macaganda proudly shows off the restaurant.

Not that Brothers Burger is necessarily pricey. While it is more expensive than fast food burgers, the place does have something for everyone. Prices range from P58 for the Baby Brothers Burger to P350 for the specialty Wagyu Burger (so named because it uses wagyu beef, known for its flavor, tenderness, and juiciness). In between these two is a wide range of products that, as the spiel says, satisfies one’s urge for real burger.

My wife and I tried a few items at Arnel’s prodding: the basic Brothers Burger, a Roast Beef Sandwich, and a Blues Brothers signature burger. Our food came in 15 minutes, fresh from the grill (“They’re flame grilled,” Arnel said, a process that maintains the beef’s taste but leaves out the grease) and looking, well, huge. No wonder they cost more: you really do get your money’s worth.

But size isn’t everything; as they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. The burgers were indeed a league apart from fast food fare: chunky without being tough, juicy without being greasy, it was pure, unadulterated, all-beef goodness. We dug into the Blues Brothers immediately, and as blue cheese lovers my wife and I fell in love with it. The strong, sharp flavor of the cheese complemented the round and subtle taste of the beef.

We were so full from the two burgers (plus a side order of onion rings) that we couldn’t even start with the Roast Beef Sandwich, so we bagged it for our teenage boy. In the end we spent more than we would on a meal, but this is no fast food restaurant, and its hamburgers are by no means junk food. As Arnel told us, Brothers Burger uses the best ingredients plus a secret recipe developed by one of its co-founders, Chef Quito Jose (one of the “Brothers”). That there’s actually an in-house chef tells you it’s not your usual burger joint.

There are plans to expand the franchise in Davao City, with eyes cast upon the upcoming Ayala mall along J.P. Laurel Avenue. For now it’s just the Damosa branch: the little restaurant with the big burgers.

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