minimalist shoes

[art mata]

has anyone here trained and/or raced using "minimalist" shoes? these would be shoes like the nike free 5.0/7.0, ecco biom, i believe karhu makes one, but i could be wrong...anyways.
so for those who have, what have been the results? good, bad, ugly?

thanks!

[Roy Hopkins]

My wife has been injured for the last three years with a heal problem. Deep tissue therapy helped and she started back training with Nike Free she did her first sprint with no problems and has been running with them ever since. thank you Roy Hopkins

[Jase Robinson]

Shoes like these are to be paired with appropriate running mechanics. My Newtons beat me up badly when I first got them but I was aware that they would. I used them in conjunction with POSE method and sure enough, the two work together wonderfully. Barefoot running on the treadmill with a 1.5% gradient was what did it for me. Just remember to start your mileages from scratch no matter what level you run at. Your first 1.5 miler will have you wincing the next day but persist and you'll be rewarded if you pay sufficient attention to form.
My training partner told me a story of being overtaken by a guy in the late 90s (decade not his age) wearing a pair of Nike Aquasocks in an Ironman so hey, anything is possible.

Good luck.

[art mata]

thank you Roy and Jase for your replys.