Physio Finish Line Case Study – Barry Southgate

Cabarita builder Barry Southgate has two remaining dates of significance pencilled in on his 2017 calendar – July 2 and October 21.

The July date is the Gold Coast Airport Marathon and the second – the one that leaves a knot in the stomach of the 55-year-old grandfather and trail runner – is The Blackall 100.

Barry knows the 100km race in the Sunshine Coast hinterland will be painful but nothing like the agony he endured during a failed attempt last year.

Rewind to October last year – October 22 is the date burned into his memory bank – when Barry experienced the lowest point in his competitive running career just 3km into the race.

He’d gone in with lingering heel pain – the right was the worst – after three weeks of physio visits and massage and arrived on the start line using takeaway acupuncture as a last resort.

“I still ran, well, attempted to run the race,” he said.

“About 3km into the run I broke down again. The pain was like a jagged piece of glass in your heel and you’re trying to run normally. It crippled me.

“I managed to hobble, jog, crawl to the first checkpoint which was 22.7km. There I thought to myself ‘I’m not going to be able to do this for the next 77km’ so I canned it.”

Barry confessed the next few weeks “were tough” as he struggled with the disappointment of not finishing the race.

He decided to have an MRI taken as a positive step towards finding out definitively what was causing the problems.

He recalled seeing Brad Beer and the POGO stand at events he’d been to in the past, got on to the internet one night, decided “I’m going to give this bloke a go” and made an appointment online.

“They called me straight back the next day,” he said.

“I had a copy of the MRI and my initial appointment was probably just over an hour. And that would have to be the most comprehensive physio assessment I’ve been to.

“I’ve been to physios for lots of things over the years and they tend to make up their mind pretty quickly what you want and that’s what you get. And you just keep going back week after week after week.”

POGO physio Bruno Rebello confirmed the plantar fasciitis diagnosis, ran through the contributing factors and outlined options around getting out of pain or having Barry back running “at full pelt”.

Being a fierce competitor who wanted to get back to his best he chose the 12-week Into Performance Program and recently put a cross through Wednesday, February 15 – his final session.

Barry’s dedication and commitment at every session earned him high praise throughout the practice.

And the man himself kept a thorough account of every session, which amounted to four massages, 14 physio visits with Bruno, 25 runs on the AlterG anti-gravity treadmill, nine road runs, 23 Galileo vibration therapy treatments, 30 Pilates classes and one visit with the podiatrist.“By the time you add all those together it just makes so much sense (to sign up for a Finish Line™ program) … and they guarantee in writing you will be back to peak performance,” Barry said.

“Every time I went in there after my first appointment, every single person behind that desk knew my name.

“And having finished my program I have now been armed with a maintenance program to keep me where I’m at now.”

Barry now can’t get the smile off his face as he describes the renewed confidence he has in his body.

“The other day I did 47 minutes for 10km. I haven’t run that pace in nine or 10 years,” he said. “I’m the strongest and fastest right now than I’ve ever been since I started, easily.

“Started” refers to 1999 when Barry, whose weight had ballooned to 89kg, decided running was the best way to lose some kilos.

Never one to do things by halves he ran his first marathon seven months later and shed 21kg in the process.

He has now run five marathons and three ultras – which is any run over 42km. “I’ve done two 50km races and one 55km,” he said.

Barry says he only started running “seriously” just over four years ago on January 7 and can tell you how many weeks and days ago that was.

“I decided to get serious. I was drinking too much,” he said.

“It was just over four years ago, January 7.

“I remember dates that count, anniversaries and things like that.

“I’m probably one of those people where it’s all or nothing. With drinking it was either all or nothing.

“When I first started running it was probably the same. You only get out what you put into things.”

Easter Sunday on April 16 this year has now emerged as a significant date for Barry – the day entries open for this year’s Blackall 100.

“I can’t wait. It’s too long between now and October,” he said.

Neale Grundy
Journalist

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