While the term "barefoot shoes" seems highly oxymoronic, it does accurately represent shoes like the Vibram 5 Fingers. These shoes also give you that initial impulse to run on the balls of your feet. Their main benefit is smoothing over gravel and my old nemesis, crushed up acorns (damn you mighty oaks!!!) I've run 6 5Ks in the shoes and will never go back to the thick healed shoes. I'm still a bit overweight but was much more overweight when I started running. Running on the balls of your feet makes you use your body's natural shock absorbers and not the cushioned heel. I highly recommend for anyone to try out some minimalist shoes. Also, one of the better terms to find out more on Google is "minimalist running".

My interest in this topic remains purely academic, but part of the barefoot resurgence is about using "shoes" that are little more than rubber wrappers around your feet, allowing natural motion but also protecting your foot. I have 0 experience with these, it just sounds like you might be interested. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1603650 is enough of a link to get started.