I bought my Original Luna Sandals in July last year since then we’ve been great buddies. I had to send in a tracing of my feet and order the custom version since running barefoot has made my arch more pronounced and my feet wider (and meatier)! With over 700 [mostly] trail miles logged on these sandals in the last 8 months, I guess it was time to say goodbye.

Luna Sandals

I wrote a review of the Original Luna Sandals a little after I got it and despite the lack of treads at the bottom, I really haven’t had much issue with trail running. Did you know that Ted McDonald (aka Barefoot Ted) came up with the idea when he met Manuel Luna, a local Tarahumaran who helped him make a pair of traditional huarache sandals out of an old tire? Well, I ain’t no Tarahumara, but just love the feeling of running with open toed sandals. Running downhill was the tricky one, but I think I’ve got that one figured out after many hill repeats and experimentation. Since I got my first pair, the Lunas have been with me in over six races. But now it’s time to say goodbye. I ran a 10-miler this past weekend on the PG&E trail in Rancho San Antonio and was coming down fast on the descent. Around mile 8, I felt a sharp rock jab my heel and it hurt like hell for a few moments, but I kept going. When I got down, I found that the rock had almost punctured through the sandals and I was so glad that it wasn’t my flesh.

I just ordered the new Mono’s (12mm sole with an awesome Monkey Grip footbed) thanks to the quick help from Dylan Romero, one of the Luna Monkeys. Can’t wait to try it out, especially since I’ve got a 30K coming up in just a few weeks.

Do you run with the Lunas? How do you handle the downhills?