Drexel clinic helps runners of all levels

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Many who love to run find themselves sidelined by an annoying, recurrent injury.

That's why a local medical center has launched a program to help get runners back on the road.

Action News was there as 24-year-old Caroline Rogers received a full assessment at Drexel's Running Clinic.

She ran her first marathon in California as a senior in high school.

She's since run three more.

It's clear she loves running.

"I really enjoy the sense of freedom; it gives me time to myself to think," Caroline said.

But this past fall while training for the Chicago Marathon, she started feeling pain in her right knee.

She finished the race, but in pain, and she hasn't run since.

So physical therapist Robert Maschi helped pinpoint the problem.

He tested her strength, stability, flexibility, and measuring her range of motion.

He also analyzed her gait.

He says along with biomechanists, he'll develop a comprehensive runner's profile.

Some runners may need strengthening exercises, others, small tweaks to their form.

"Things like running cadence, stride length, stride width or we'll give them instructions on exercises to correct certain biomechanical errors and those little changes make a big difference," Maschi said.

He says the clinic is good for new runners looking to avoid injury, professional runners hoping to improve performance and for people like Caroline with a recurrent injury she's liked to move past.

"I'm only 24 and I'd like to be able to run a while longer," Caroline said.

And the prognosis looks good for Caroline.

She has some exercises to do and a minor tweak to her running form.

The initial assessment costs $200, but any sessions after that should be covered under most insurance plans.

For more information on Drexel's running clinic, visit http://drexel.edu/cnhp/practices/three-parkway/Physical-Therapy/Running-Mechanics-Gait-Analysis/ or call 215-571-4287.