Well my dear NYC podiatry patients, it’s final. I’m in the #TCSNYCMarathon for 2017. I’ve secured a charity spot running for team @ohelfamily, and looking forward to crossing the finish line with 25,000 friends on November 5, because the only way home is through the finish line. Or in the back of an ambulance, but we are thinking positive in this holy and sacred blog.So it’s not my first marathon, and certainly not my first run. I’ve been running for the past 15 years or so and was inspired not by the healthy people, rather by the less than healthy people that I was fortunate to encounter and treat in the course of my residency way back in the onset of the millennium. Thinking that a serial leg amputation performed one toe at a time in between trips to the dialysis center is no way to spend one’s golden years, I looked for a form of exercise that I could get into. Running can be done almost anytime and anywhere, in groups or in solitude, at any skill level, and only requires a good pair of shoes, some running gear, working headphones, and of course a pair of custom orthotics. Being your friendly neighborhood NYC foot doctor and resident nerd, I was far from the athletic type, however runners only compete with themselves- unless you are actually in a race and trying to win- and therefore with a bit of determination, grit, and sweat the athleticism naturally develops- or doesn’t. As I increased my running distance both by will and necessity each increase in distance became a milestone to be passed, and half marathons became a training run, to the point that the #TCSNYCMarathon will be another notch on the belt.

But fear not, my dear patients, and be not intimidated by my Olympic feats and feets. I’m still the resident nerd, and if I can do this, so can anyone. Or maybe not this, but you have some other hurdle to jump- your own personal marathon. It’s just a matter of increasing your virtual distance, passing the milestones, and achieving a greater personal best.

So my dear NYC podiatry patients, I’m still in, and looking forward to seeing some of you on 11/5. The rest of you: I’m looking forward to high fiving you after achieving your own personal best and crossing the finish line together.

See you in the office.

Ernest Isaacson

PS: Even if you’re not running, you can help me run, and help out a very worthy cause at the same time.