After recovering from spinal surgery, Dunedin runner Bradley Stringer plans to run in this weekend’s Queenstown Marathon. PHOTO: GERARD O’BRIEN Looking back, Bradley Stringer reckons he may have been a little too ambitious when he deadlifted 120kg at the gym. It left the young athlete with a serious back injury, years of pain, and the inability to do any major exercise. "It was in 2014 — I was only 16 and about 60kg. I was pretty into the training back then, but I had poor technique at the time. "Over the following years, I had quite a few injuries in the same area. "I ended up at the physio in a lot of pain, but the treatment wasn’t helping. "They kept saying to me that it was just a back sprain." It was not until 2018 that his back was finally X-rayed and he was found to have a fractured vertebra and prolapsed disc. Once properly diagnosed, he had surgery in 2019 to fuse some of his vertebrae. "There was never any question about whether I would walk again. "They just said there was only an 85% chance that the operation would work, and if it didn’t work, I would still have all the pain and the tingling in my legs." Fortunately, the operation was a success and since then, he has been undergoing physiotherapy to get him moving and walking again. He said the walking soon turned into running, and he was feeling "99% back to normal". Now the 26-year-old is about to run the half marathon at the New Zealand Sotheby's International Realty Queenstown Marathon this weekend. "I feel pretty lucky — a lot of other people with this injury still have a lot of ongoing problems. "I never really thought I would be able to get back to this level of activity." While some may say he was being overly ambitious again, trying to run a half marathon, Mr Stringer said he had no plans to win it — just run it. He hoped his participation in the marathon would help to inspire others to give it a go and strive to push themselves harder. "My journey has been a very physical and mentally challenging time, but it has helped me realise that no matter what, I need to keep my head up, keep on fighting and keep on smiling. "I do hope someone else can benefit from what I’m doing in one way or another." john.lewis@odt.co.nz
