Many of you have participated in a 50-mile race, a 100-mile race, an adventure race, or some other type of multi-day race. Some multi-day races are non-stop while others are stage races. A lot of these races provide medical care at aid stations – and some also provide foot care.
If you have received foot care aid at these aid stations, you have been helped by the generous people I’ll call the “heroes” of foot care.
The picture shown here is from the Amazon Jungle Marathon this past October. Every one of the 15 members of our medical team helped with foot care. No one said they didn’t want to do feet. You can see the working conditions: sand everywhere, water bottles as footrests, a tarp to protect the runners and our knees (that quickly filled with sand), and supplies strewn all over and shared between medics. What you don’t see are the flies and bugs that were constantly in our faces, and the sweat running down our faces from the humidity. Now keep this up for hours, well into the night.
These are the heroes of foot care.
Most races have them. They volunteer their time and even supplies. They often go to races at their own expense. They work often under adverse and uncomfortable conditions. They want to do the best patch job possible. They are dedicated to getting you back into the race. They want you to have a great race experience. In short, they care.
I’ve been at races that have well-organized foot care services and others that have nothing. Some people providing their services are podiatrists, doctors, nurses, paramedics or EMTs, physical therapists, chiropractors, or other medical specialists. Other times they are simple people who have learned foot care techniques on their own or from someone else.
I know you appreciate these foot care people.
So how can you thank them? Let me share a few ideas.
- Simply say thank you.
- Make sure you have done everything possible to have healthy feet going into the race.
- Trim your toenails short and then file them smooth.
- Reduce calluses as much as possible.
- Wear quality shoes and socks.
- Know how to do your own foot care just in case we aren’t there or there’s a line for our services
- And finally, be patient. Good foot care and blister patching takes more than a minute.
We love helping runners and always welcome your appreciation.
