Running marathons after physical therapy at MercyOne

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Stephen Jones, 46, of Eldridge, Iowa enjoyed running for exercise, but noticed a lot of back and joint pain during and after in recent years. After working with Alyssa Gillund, physical therapist at MercyOne Genesis Davenport Physical Therapy and Sport Medicine, he's running farther and faster than ever farther and faster than ever.

Growing up, Stephen’s father was an avid runner, which inspired Stephen to run as well. “Over the years, I’d train for the Bix race in Davenport. After the Bix in 2016, I had a lot of back pain and gave up running for a few months. I felt better eventually and signed up for a half-marathon, which was a mistake, because I hadn’t trained properly and had a painful recovery.” After that race, Stephen again stopped running for a while. 

Then, on a trip to Spain, where his wife Ana is from, Stephen felt motivated to run again.  He said, “We were in Valencia one morning, and I told my wife I was going for a run. She was surprised but supportive. I only ran three miles, which took me a long time, and it was painful.”

Facing the pain

Stephen built up to longer runs in Spain, even with the pain, but when he returned home, he ultimately decided to seek medical advice. “Everything hurt. I went to MercyOne Genesis Sports Medicine and started physical therapy (PT) with Alyssa.”

Alyssa recorded him running and evaluated his form and strength. She told him he was a “heel striker,” making him more prone to injury and joint pain. Stephen said, “We focused on that first, so I'd run for 10 minutes, and she helped me improve my form by showing me how to warm up, run and then cool down.” Alyssa was encouraging and told him these short sessions would improve his running for the long term. 

Stephen took PT seriously both at the sessions with Alyssa and at home with his prescribed exercises. “I loved the personalized care I received. She asked me, ‘What do you want to be able to do?’ and built a therapy program around my answers. I appreciated that she never questioned my goals.”

In October of 2023, Stephen mentioned he wanted to run the Chicago marathon in 2024, thinking it might be an outlandish plan. Alyssa told him he could do it if he continued to fix the ‘basics’ with her. 

Reaching his goals and beyond

In 2024, Stephen successfully ran the Chicago marathon and was surprised how quickly he recovered in the days after the race. Since that time, he’s run five more marathons and isn’t stopping. “I achieved a new personal record of 3:33 at the Dallas marathon in the worst weather possible, and it was very exciting. I get goosebumps thinking about it. My goal is to get my time down to 3:10, so I can qualify for the Boston marathon by age 50.”

Stephen doesn’t regularly go to PT anymore, but still does his prescribed exercises at home. “I'll return to PT if I need to, but I’m feeling great and planning to start running longer races, such as the 44-mile trail run at the Grand Canyon.”

Be accountable and do the work

Stephen’s advice for others is fairly simple, “If you want to achieve your fitness goals, there’s no easy way out. Be accountable for how you want to feel. Going to PT with Alyssa meant facing changes I had to make and putting the work in to improve.”

Now, Stephen's eager to sign up for more races near and far and says he wouldn’t be where he is today without MercyOne physical therapy. “They didn’t just give me ‘one-size-fits-all' solutions. They created an individualized therapy and training program for me, and it worked.”

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