ABOUT
THE ORIGIN STORY
(AKA: How This Madness Started)
The year was 2005. The scene? A boat, obviously. Pro wakeboarders Parks Bonifay, Daniel Watkins, and Erik Ruck, along with legendary watersports announcer Danny “Dano the Mano” Amir, were doing what they do best—floating around, talking trash, and thinking up ways to make life on the water even more ridiculous. At the time, they were deep into barefoot waterskiing. Like, obsessively into it. So much so that they had their own club—the Clear Lake Barefoot Club (yes, it was epic, and yes, you missed out).
One fateful conversation went something like:
"What if we had a barefoot contest?"
"But, like… no rules?"
"Yeah—just shorts, a vest, and whoever eats it last wins."
Boom. Feet on Fire was born. With a little help from their buddy Tony Smith, then editor of Alliance Wake Magazine (who also named the event), the first showdown went down in 2005 at Crazy Kelman’s legendary house on Clear Lake in Orlando, Florida. Since then, it’s blown up into one of the most anticipated events in towed watersports, with contests popping off in Central Florida, Wisconsin, and even Australia.
The formula? Simple:
32 competitors
Head-to-head battles
No barefoot suits allowed—just a pair of shorts, a vest, and a strong tolerance for pain.
The event is owned, organized, and produced by Touch of the North Events, LLC, but really—it belongs to the lake rats, barefooters, and water sports diehards who keep showing up, year after year, to prove they've got what it takes (or at least to crash spectacularly trying).
"IF YOU CAN'T WIN, CRASH SOMEONE WHO CAN! SOME WISE WORDS FROM RICKY CARMICHAEL THROUGH THE YEARS! WATCH OUT CHIP, I'M COMING IN HOT!!"
PARKS BONIFAY AT THE 2018 FEET ON FIRE SOUTH
THE BAREFOOT LAPS CHALLENGE
Feet on Fire’s Rebel Sibling
In 2021, we decided Feet on Fire needed a little company (because why stop at one event concept?). Enter the Barefoot Laps Challenge—a sister contest with the same roots in barefoot endurance but with its own twist. While Feet on Fire is all about head-to-head battles, the Barefoot Laps Challenge is a test of pure grit: how many laps can you hang on before gravity—and bad decisions—catch up to you?
It’s got the same no-frills, no-excuses energy as Feet on Fire, but with formats like the Duct Tape Division (yes, that’s a real thing) because why not make things more interesting? It’s all part of the Feet on Fire brand—pushing limits, embracing the chaos, and proving that barefooting isn’t just a sport—it’s a lifestyle.
So, whether you're here to compete, watch, or just soak up the scene, welcome to the party. Just don’t forget: it’s not about how you start—it’s about how spectacularly you refuse to fall.
