Running Assessments

Running assessments, or gait assessments, can be key to helping runners avoid injury and heal from past injury by improving their techniques and avoiding bad habits. Meet Dan Frey, owner and physical therapist at Finish Strong Physical Therapy in Portland Maine, and alumnus of the UNE Doctor of Physical Therapy degree program. The running assessment starts with a PT evaluation, looking at movement, strength, flexibility, and different limitations. That leads into a video analysis, a breakdown of the runner’s foot movement to look specifically at foot structure and gait. That's done barefoot and with shoes, walking and running. After the shoot, the footage is processed in software. Dan and the patient sit down together, go through all the videos, and slow everything down. Together they discover different things that might be improved upon or that could be contributing to injury or pathology.