Marathon runner prepares to go barefoot

KANSAS CITY, Missouri - Runners are getting ready to lace up for the annual Kansas City Marathon. But one local man is ditching his shoes for the race.

Rick Roeber, also known as “Barefoot Rick” will run the marathon shoeless. This will be his 54th barefoot marathon.

"People ask me all the time why do you do this, doesn't it hurt. If it hurt I wouldn't do it. And so for me it's easier. It's a more natural way to run. I believe it's the way God meant us to be," says Roeber.

“Barefoot Rick” says this marathon is just a warm up to a more challenging run.

He plans to run for 24 hours beginning at 6 p.m. on October 29. The run is to benefit the Kansas City Rescue Mission. He is asking people to donate $24 for his 24 hour run.

"I've lived in homeless centers so I understand what it is to be homeless. I know what it is to have that sense of loneliness and that sense of hopelessness," he says.

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