THERE is nothing better than dipping your feet in the sea on a warm summer's day.

But when your shoes get washed away by the incoming tide it is perhaps a different story!

It is often said that things happen for a reason. For Steve Hammond seeing his favourite trainers float away across the Gower peninsula was a sign of things to come.

While most people would call a friend or a family member to drive them home rather than avoid the shame and pain of walking without any shoes on, Steve, from Llanelli, decided to go au naturel and run miles to his house.

It was there his interest in running barefoot was born.

It is an approach rapidly gaining credence as the best way to train and compete. Experts say we were not designed to run wearing shoes, so running barefoot allows our skeleto-muscular system to move as it was meant to.

Steve says: "Running along the Millennium Coastal Path without my trainers on was actually quite liberating.

"It was while I was running back home I thought about whether anybody had done the London Marathon without any shoes on.

"I had not long run the marathon and I wondered what it would be like doing it barefoot."

The run home didn't put Steve off, and what was once a "silly" idea soon became reality.

"In 2005 I became the first person to complete the London Marathon barefoot," the 60- year-old says.

"I thought it would be a bit of fun and it started off as a bit of a joke.

"Everyone thought I was mad but although my time was awful I finished it."

Ironically, while the other competitors were nursing blisters, pulled muscles and general aches and pains, Steve felt fine."

There was no stopping Steve. After the marathon he continued to take part in various fundraising races and challenges and last October he took part in the Cardiff Half Marathon, which fell on his 60th birthday.

"People think it is painful running barefoot but it is better for you," says the support worker for Llanelli-based mental health charity Links.

"It is better for your posture and gives better co-ordination and control. Barefoot runners are less prone to aches and pains and better equipped to perform at an optimum level.

"We were designed to run without trainers on after all, so running barefoot allows us to move as we were meant to be.

"A runner with trainers on would strike the ground with their heel first, where a barefoot runner would hit the ground with the front or midfoot first which gives less spring."

The craze to kick off our shoes and bare all in the name of exercise is fast becoming a hit, with gyms starting to run barefoot training classes.

Stephen McKirgan, a personal trainer who specialises in working with the body's natural and holistic movements and runs his own classes, says: "We are aiming to re-educate people on how to develop and use the senses they have in their feet.

"How can you expect somebody who has their feet bound by laces tied too tightly to be able to sense changes in surface variables and adjust accordingly? You can't.

"The classes help develop postural muscles, reduce overall tension, prevent injury and, ultimately, improve performance.

"If we free up the entire foot, we should enjoy greater balance, co-ordination and control, because 70 per cent of the information passed to the brain comes from the nerves in our feet."

But like anything, barefoot running has its critics. The craze has led to a large number of injuries, some serious, because people have been too keen to jump into it.

And there are health and safety implications if you want to go barefoot in the gym.

Steve, of Pemberton Road, Llanelli, says: "Of course you have to be careful you don't step on glass or dog mess but it's like anything — you have to build up to it.

"Just as our feet and bodies have learnt to wear cushioned or supportive footwear, so they need to learn to relax and drop into barefoot mode gradually.

"I have had no injuries while running barefoot and if somebody is keen to try it I would suggest they go on a flat route to start and start off with short distances.

"I like to find somewhere smooth like the cycle track and I prefer it to running on the grass as you don't know what might be lurking in there.

"Your feet get used to it and the skin hardens so it is not as painful. I love the feeling of running barefoot, it is quite liberating. I love touching the ground and I feel really good after it.

"I am a great believer of going back as much to nature as possible, whether that is running barefoot or eating foods from source."

And Steve has certainly had his far share of funny moments.

"Once a woman asked me why I was running without shoes on," he says.

"I told her I could not afford shoes. She went into her purse and offered me £20 to buy some shoes! I didn't take the money but it was a lovely gesture and made me laugh.

"Another time I was chased by a swan down the cycle track — he must have been attracted to my toes!"

Of course, trainers are not out of the question entirely. There are still sports that will always require special footwear such as ballet and ball sports.

But as Steve says, "It's a great form of exercise and yes, you really do feel good after it."