Brad Falcone

As a 4-time marathoner and 15-time half marathoner, running has been a huge part of my life. Shortly before the pandemic in 2020, I ran my last race in Los Angeles which was a full marathon. After that race, my will to run was cut down by the absence of races. I ran every here and there but nothing like I had before. In early 2021, I felt a pain on my left foot and quickly went to a podiatrist who put me in a walking boot and gave me a cortisone shot. This would cut down the pain for a while but I was still unable to run.

After several different opinions from various different doctors, it was determined that I had tore my plantar plate on my left foot. This was the result of years of running. After countless x-rays and trips to physical therapy, I finally convinced a doctor to perform surgery on me in December 2021. I thought this would be the end of all my problems once my foot healed. In the spring of 2022 I was cleared to run and began gently running again but ultimately the pain returned.

In the summer of 2022, I was introduced to Dr. Rock Positano and started weekly treatment at HSS. About a month after treatment I was slowly running again, running a little bit at a time. After months of treatment, I was running a few miles at a time including a couple 4-mile races in the winter of 2023. In April 2023, I began training 5 days a week again pain-free and have been able to run several races including a 10K in June. My mileage is back to 25 miles per week and I am currently training for a 10-miler in September and a half-marathon in October.

There were certainly days when I thought I'd never be able to run again and there was no hope for me to get better and thinking I had tried everything. I even had one doctor tell me this was a result of getting older at the age of 35. Without the treatment of Dr. Positano and HSS, I would not be able to be back to a level that I was at pre-pandemic.

In 2024, I will begin training for my fifth full-marathon in November. I never thought it would take me 4.5 years to get back to that point but after several setbacks and the treatment of Dr. Positano and HSS, I am ready to go.