BREWER, Maine — As the owner of Bodies By Badger, Amy Clark Badger and her training staff constantly encourage clients to continue working hard through fatigue or discomfort during a workout.
Badger proved Sunday that she is willing to walk the walk — make that run the run.
Badger was among the competitors in the University of Maine’s Black Bear Half Marathon in Orono, where she planned to run the 13.1 miles alongside two clients, Erin McDonald and Trisha Coleman.
“I had two girls that were running their very first half-marathon, and I had told them that I would run it with them,” Badger said.
Everything was OK for about 4 miles, but Badger began to experience pain in her right foot. She tried to compensate by changing her gait but quickly realized that could lead to more problems.
She was surprised about the level of discomfort, especially because she was wearing a pair of Hokas, running shoes that feature extra cushioning.
Badger theorizes that the significant crown in the road used for part of the course may have led to the foot problems, because she had run in the same sneakers before with no issues.
Shortly before the 7-mile water station, Badger made the decision.
“I said, ‘Guys, I’ve got to take these off,’” she said of the sneakers. “‘Run ahead, and I’ll catch up with you.’”
She removed the footwear and asked the folks at the water station to hold onto them for her.
“They looked at me like I had eight heads,” Badger said with a laugh.
At that point, the only thing between the bottom of her feet and the pavement was her socks. She hoped they would hold out for a while, reducing potential damage to her feet.
Her goal was to make it to the Mile 10 stop, which was sponsored by Bodies By Badger, where she would borrow some sneakers to finish the race.
“They were all wearing flip-flops and stuff that I couldn’t run in,” Badger said.
Undaunted, Badger continued the race barefoot. Her motivation was to continue supporting her fellow B3 runners.
“I’m like, I’ve got to finish. I can’t quit now, I’m almost at the end,” she said.
Her quest was made easier by the fact that latter portion of the course was run on UMaine’s running and biking trails, which are smoothly paved and generally flat.
“Once I got on that it was great,” she said.
As she approached the finish line, Badger texted her husband, Phil, that she needed her flip-flops. Stat.
The announcer reading the name of each runner who crossed the finish line noticed her predicament.
“They said, ‘And it’s Amy Badger — in her bare feet,’ over the loudspeaker,” she said.
Her race included 7 miles in painful sneakers, 3 miles in socks and 3 miles barefoot.
“I wasn’t trying to draw attention. I was just trying to get to the end of the race,” said Badger, who first started Bodies By Badger at her home. For the last 2½ years, the business has been located at North Main Street in Brewer.
She admitted having to take greater care once the sneakers came off to avoid rocks, glass and other obstacles. Badger is convinced running barefoot, which is how some runners in Kenya train in their early years, was the lesser of two evils.
There were lots of comments from fellow runners and spectators alike. Someone pointed out how clean her feet were at the end of the race.
“I was like, ‘Thanks, I ran through some puddles to cool my feet off,’” she recounted.
“The girls I was running with would laugh. They were like, ‘Now we’re following your [wet] footprints.’”
Badger said her feet feel remarkably good two days after the race, citing a quote from “Runner’s World” that read, “The pride lasts longer than the pain.”
But her rationale in finishing the race was to make sure Coleman and McDonald weren’t stranded as they attempted the longest race of their lives.
“I was like, I can’t leave them now. To me, there wasn’t an option,” she said.
Shortly after she finished the half-marathon, Badger was greeted by a man who had driven back to return her sneakers.
“I don’t want to tell him they’re still in the back of my husband’s truck. They’ll probably be there for a while.”
And she’ll have a different plan of attack for the 2017 Black Bear Half Marathon.
“I’ll make sure next year I stay right on that yellow line, right in the middle of the road.”