Cullman podiatrist Eric Fillinger ran cross country in high school and was an All-American runner in college at Cedarville (Ohio) University.
A foot injury during his senior year led him to get into podiatry to try to help the next generation of runners when they had to deal with injuries such as his.
Now that his practice is in Cullman, Fillinger is doing his part to help keep the runners in the Cullman area in shape and injury-free.
One of the ways he is doing that is the running camp he held this week in Cullman with a number of the top varsity cross country runners in Cullman County.
“This is something that I’ve wanted to do for a few years, but the planning and logistics were just never right,” Fillinger said. “Then a few parents and pediatricians asked me if I would be interested in doing it sometime this summer.
“I just saw that as a sign that we needed to do this now for the first time. These kids are pretty much guinea pigs for this.”
The camp consisted of two running sessions each day, morning and evening, with a special speaker in the mornings each speaking on different things.
“We had speakers like Dr. Kim Addison and Dr. Tony Ruse talking to the kids about nutrition, strength and conditioning, training and overall health,” Fillinger said. “We’re working on trying to make these runners better on and off the track.”
Fillinger said the dedication of each athlete demonstrated during this past week was present.
“They are up here in Cullman running at six o’clock in the morning, and then they are back in the evenings running again,” Fillinger said. “With dedication like that, it is no wonder the teams at Cold Springs, Fairview and Cullman are as good as they are.”
Fillinger said he was also impressed with the type of people the campers are.
“Running is a good sport where participants can learn the lessons about teamwork, sacrifice, perseverance and life in general that can also be learned in other sports,” Fillinger said. “I think these runners are the type that will pass those lessons on to those who are coming up behind them.”
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Local Running: Local podiatrist conducts inaugural summer running camp
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