NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — There's a man on the move. Some immediately see him as an inspiration. Others immediately have questions. You may have seen him out and about. Red hat. Red pants. Now, it's time to hear his story.
You live in one west Nashville neighborhood, and you've seen the runner.
"Oh my goodness, yes!" laughed neighbor Patty Ritoch as she watered her garden. "I have not had the conversation about why he does it."
So, what is it that's got everyone's attention about runner Jerrie Barber?
"They usually say, 'Sir, do you realize you don't have any shoes on?'" Jerrie smiled. "I look down and say, 'I knew I left something at home!' Well, yeah, it's a little weird. People say, 'How do you run barefoot?' Well, you take off your shoes and you take off your socks and you start going! I'm 79 years old. Since March of 2010, I've been running barefoot. If I felt better when I was 20, I can't remember it."
Jerrie runs barefoot 15 miles most weeks, often on Charlotte Pike. He's heard from a lot of concerned people.
"Thinking I might be running away from assisted living!" Jerrie laughed. "I've had more than one person offer to buy me shoes."
Plenty of others know that's just Jerrie.
"Red hat. Red pants. There goes that weird preacher who runs barefoot when it's 50 degrees or above!" Jerrie said.
Jerrie's preached at many churches since he was 16 and still does interim preaching and guest speaking.
"It is rewarding to see people without hope learn to have hope again and learn to relate to people and God," Jerrie said.
Since Jerrie loves conversation, barefoot running is a way to get people talking. He does love it. It's partly a throwback to his childhood when he ran everywhere barefoot.
"People say, 'doesn't that hurt?'" he continued. "I say, 'Absolutely!'"
He said that part's worth it for this exercise, for his health.
"Life is painful, and if all we do is try to stay comfortable, we'll be a failure," Jerrie explained. "If I'm not willing to endure the pain, I'm not getting anything out of it."
"When you have friends that are watching and supporting, I find I do better," Jerrie continued, speaking as he ran. "That's true of races or if I'm running with someone else. That's another matter of life. We need to have good friends who encourage."
Truth is, when Jerrie thinks of all the people who stop and check in on him to make sure he's okay, he doesn't mind that. Those are caring people.
"You don't have anything to apologize for!" Jerrie said. "You are very kind, and if we had more people like you in the world, we'd be in much better shape."
Watch for pedestrians. You might just like who you meet.
"You know, people say, 'it's dangerous out there,'" Jerrie said. "People have been very, very kind to me. People are just kind."
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
I LOVE Forrest's stories on the history of NewsChannel 5 as we celebrate our 70th anniversary. Here's a story I wasn't familiar with until recently. Eudora Boxley had a live cooking show in the early days of the station. She may have been the first black on air at NewsChannel 5 and perhaps, one of the first African Americans to have a TV cooking show anywhere in the country. It wasn't until her grandson reached out to me that I even heard of Ms. Boxley. Thankfully, I was able to connect him with Forest to learn more about this great nugget in NewsChannel 5 history.
-Lelan Statom
