Blades on Track -> A day of 'inspiration profit'

Time for me to get back into routines: running is one of those routines keeping mind and body sane. That brings me back to one of the most inspiring and motivational symposia I ever attended at the beginning of summer thanks to Lena De Cock and together with Bart Larivière : Blades on Track organized by the rehabilitation center of ?the Ghent University Hospital under the lead of dr. Sybille Geers . A day filled with science and sports, sharing of multidisciplinary knowledge and all of that with scientific insights that were communicated in a very clear way.

A morning of inspiration followed by an afternoon of cheering and supporting the runners with prosthetics and blades. Special attention on this day to the blades as they are costly prosthetics for people who want to run after one or both legs have been amputated but have huge advantages.

A whole program in function of the link between sports and science: zooming in on the health benefits of running, on the impact of running with blades on the body, on the mind and reflecting about reimbursement following a health economics reasoning. Too many learnings to summarize but just a couple that stuck with me (more scientific insights were of course shared by the experts):

• The health benefits of running are undeniably there: increased metabolic efficiency, lower heart rate variability, increased immunity, ... (1 hour of running adds 7 hours of life :-))
• Runnng with prosthetics/blades is all about personalization, customization of the blades to get it all right: the feeling, the usage of energy, handling the imbalance in case of one amputation, ...
• (Realistic) goal setting is crucial when learning to run with prosthetics: if that is done smartly (with readjustment, with resilience in coping with frustrations), there are many examples of people who do not only regain physical strength but also mental strength they need to get e.g. back to work. The feeling of pride in your accomplishment is key here for motivation Emelien Lauwerier
• Reimbursement is currently still problematic for prosthetics/blades: more research needs to be done to quantify the benefits of running with blades versus the risk (such that the value can be expressed via QALYs) such that it can drive decisions of policy makers in a more informed way Amber Werbrouck Ben Weyts
• Running with 1 blade is harder than running with 2 blades because of the impact on the intact leg in the case of 1 blade
• Blades are much more efficient in giving energy back to our leg in comparison with regular prosthetics

• There is an interesting ethical dilemma: how to deal with blade runners in competion as we all think it is great they participate but what if they start winning medals :-)? It however costs blade runners much more energy to get to the same finish line so that should be considered in that dilemma

There is such a huge benefit in attending these types of events. As Universiteit Gent rector Rik Van de Walle formulated it nicely: this event gave a huge 'inspiration profit' because of the power of meeting new people, the power of optimism, the power of sharing scientific insights, the power of having support systems and people in your life.

Lena De Cock : I don’t take running for granted anymore and I am just a bit more grateful every time I get to do it. Proud of your resilience, we all are ??!