Riley Kane
RRCA Certified Running Coach & Barefoot Transition Specialist
At 26 I was sidelined by my third stress fracture in four years. My sports medicine doctor told me I might need to accept that distance running wasn’t for my body. Instead, I found a physical therapist who specialized in gait retraining and gave me a counterintuitive prescription: ditch the cushioned shoes. I’m Riley Kane, and that moment completely changed how I run — and eventually, what I do for work.
My Background and Credentials
I’m a certified running coach through the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) with six years of barefoot-only and minimal footwear running under my belt. In that time I’ve completed four ultramarathons in minimal footwear — including a 50-miler through the Texas Hill Country — and I currently coach a group of 40+ runners in Austin, TX through weekly barefoot transition sessions and monthly workshops open to the public.
I spent two years transitioning to minimal footwear, rebuilding foot strength from scratch, and studying the biomechanics of natural movement. Chronic IT band syndrome was my breaking point — conventional shoes, foam rolling, and two rounds of physical therapy hadn’t fixed it. Barefoot running was a last resort. It worked. I never went back.
Why I Started BarefootRanked
After coaching runners through their own transitions, I kept running into the same problem: the internet is full of barefoot running content written by people who ran barefoot for three months and called themselves experts, or worse, content written by brands with products to sell. There was no honest, experience-backed resource for people who were serious about foot health and wanted real-world shoe reviews.
So I built one. BarefootRanked exists to give you the no-BS information I wish I’d had when I started. Every shoe I review I either buy with my own money or borrow from a runner in my group — no brand sponsorships, no free product arrangements. If a shoe doesn’t perform, I say so plainly.
What You’ll Find Here
- Honest shoe reviews — stack height, ground feel, toe box width, durability, and whether the shoe actually supports better movement patterns or just markets itself that way.
- Transition guides — how to move from conventional to minimal footwear without getting injured, regardless of your starting point.
- Health and biomechanics content — the research behind natural gait, foot strengthening, and injury prevention.
- Buying guides — matched to specific use cases (road, trail, casual, zero-drop only, etc.) so you don’t waste money on the wrong shoe.
Life in Austin
I’m based in Austin, TX and run 50+ miles per week year-round — mostly trails in the Barton Creek Greenbelt and the Walnut Creek Metro Park system. I teach monthly barefoot transition workshops here in Austin that are free and open to anyone curious about minimal footwear. Details get posted on the site when registration opens.
When I’m not running or coaching, I’m deep in shoe research, testing the latest minimal releases, and writing the reviews you’ll find on this site.
Get in Touch
Questions about barefoot running, shoe recommendations, or the workshops? Reach me directly at [email protected]. I read every message and respond to most of them — just give me a day or two.