One of the most interesting contemporary athletes is in India and you can catch him talk as well as at a competitive event over the next two days. This is Ted McDonald or “Barefoot Ted” — the American runner from Seattle who has become world-famous for popularising running without shoes through both coaching clinics and lectures.

We in India first heard of barefoot running in 1984, because of Zola Budd. During the Los Angeles Olympics that year, the South African athlete collided with Mary Decker of the US in the final of the 3,000 metre. There were actually two brushes and then the main collision, which resulted in Decker falling to the ground. She was carried away from the track in tears, in the arms of her future husband — British discus thrower Richard Slaney. Budd finished the race but in seventh place and years later said she had deliberately slowed because she did not want to win before the hostile American crowd. For what it was worth, Decker also made her statement several years later and clarified that Budd had not deliberately caused the collision. After the Olympics, Decker and Budd raced together several times and the American always beat her. However, Budd did go on to set more records.

Before the Olympics, Budd’s background also drew a great deal of attention from the global audience. Early in the Olympic year, she had set a world record in the 5,000 metre in a race in South Africa but it could not be officially recognised by the International Amateur Athletic Fede­ration because of the sports boycott of South Africa owing to its policy of apartheid. Then, taking advantage of the fact that her grandfather had been British, she applied for British citizenship. Britain, keen to have her on its Olympic team, granted citizenship promptly in the face of protests.

Apart from her age (she was 17 years old), Budd also sparked global interest because she ran barefoot. However, the reason was simple. All the children in Bloemfontein, where she had grown up, ran barefoot.

This is not the case with Ted. He is self-confessedly “committed to re-discovering primal human capacities and encouraging others to do the same”.

Since 2004, he has been interested in primal movement and “the body’s tools for survival and play”. He has been drawn to the simple but efficient footwear of primitive mankind. He himself uses, and encourages other runners to use, such footwear —notably Luna sandals. Ted is featured in the best-selling Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.

He also has an India connect. Unlike humans, he has only one horizontal crease line on his palm. This is common among monkeys and so he calls himself “monkey man”. He wears a monkey pendant and worships Hanuman.

In India until February 15, Ted is inspiring many Indian runners to throw away their running shoes. Many of them have been adoringly taking his “toegraphs” — imprints of his toes — on the flyleafs of Born to Run!

After doing some non-competitive runs in Mumbai and Pune, he is now scheduled to give a talk in Puducherry on February 11 (at the Auroville half-marathon bib collection centre at 5 pm). On February 12, he will participate in the Auroville half-marathon. To know more about Ted, visit barefootted.com.