On Saturday, medical providers, coaches and athletes from the vibrant Birmingham running community gathered for a conference on running medicine that touched on everything from common injuries and gait analysis to nutrition and psychology.
Hosted by UAB Sports and Exercise Medicine, the inaugural Robert A. Ferguson Endowed Lecture Series: A Conference on Running Medicine featured presentations UAB providers and coaches as well as keynote speaker Karl “Bert” Fields, M.D., a leading figure in sports medicine and running medicine nationwide.
The one-day conference honored longtime athletic trainer and UAB Director of Sports Medicine Drew Ferguson, who has had a distinguished 40+ year career at UAB and Children’s of Alabama.
Runners and medical providers in the audience learned more about optimizing their performance and avoiding injury, as well as research and advances in running medicine. Topics included running medicine case studies, Relative Energy Deficiency in Sports (RED-S), running nutrition, gait analysis and biomechanics, psychological aspects of running, orthotics and footwear, performance improvement, and medical considerations for the running athlete.
Fields’ keynote address, “Evidence-Based Medicine Approach to Running Injuries,” focused on the causes and treatment of running injuries.
View the full conference program here.
Several local vendors were on hand, including TrakShak, Mountain High Outfitters, UAB Eye Care, UAB University Recreation, Complete Feet and Vita Era Hydration. Coastal Outfitters, New Balance and Fleet Feet also contributed raffle prizes and giveaways for participants.
Below, take a look back at some pictures from the day.
The Birmingham running and medical communities turned out for the inaugural year of the Ferguson lecture series.
Karl "Bert" Fields, M.D., offered the keynote address, "Evidence-Based Medicine Approach to Running Medicine".
Kim Fagan, M.D, far right, gave a lecture on Relative Energy Deficiency in Sports and moderated a panel on the topic, including Sara Gould, M.D., MPH, Fields, Tori Faught, MS, RDN, LD and Maryn Lowry, associate head coach, UAB Cross Country and Track and Field.
In a breakout session, Fields helped audience members spot potential concerns that might be helped by orthotics and footwear.
Attendees could choose among four breakout sessions, focusing on orthotics, gait analysis, psychology and performance improvement.
Lowry, center, joined with UAB Track and Field Head Coach Kurt Thomas, right, and UAB Sports and Exercise Medicine personal trainer Quan Crook, left, to give the performance improvement talk.
M. Heath Hale, M.D., MPH, gave the day's last talk on medical considerations in the running athlete. Hale is an associate professor, medical director and head team physician for UAB Athletics, and director of the UAB Student Health Services Sports Medicine Clinic.
To close out the conference, the day's speakers gathered on stage to answer questions from the audience.