Viral Barefoot Runner Acorn Post Turns Out To Be Fake

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A Minneapolis man has admitted he made up claims of being a "competitive barefoot runner" annoyed with sidewalk acorns after a post he made to a Facebook group went viral.

The post, which was shared via Twitter by a member of the northeast Minneapolis neighborhood group where the post originated, detailed the man's training sessions as a competitive barefoot runner and the pain associated with stepping on acorns littering the sidewalk. The Tuesday Twitter post quickly went viral and was picked up by multiple news outlets, including the Washington Post, Esquire and BuzzFeed.

The post's author told BuzzFeed during a phone interview after the post had already received major attention that he was making an internet joke.

In the post, the man went beyond simply reminding neighbors to clean their sidewalks of acorns – he said he might have to complain to the City of Minneapolis if the sidewalks weren't cleared.

The tweeted screenshot of the original Facebook post has received more than 67,000 likes and has been retweeted nearly 16,000 times.