Lunch with a Friend
Wear and Tear
By Cynthia Adams
Superb athlete and field doc to many
a Greensboro runner (and some Olympians) who have pulled a hamstring, Dr. Karl “Bert” Fields arrives at Blu Margarita downtown wearing khakis, black golf shirt and boring, brown lace-ups. He’s just following doctor’s orders — his own — wearing Dr. Scholl’s. At 64 he has undergone four knee surgeries and knows the biomechanics of wear and tear.
Fields has covered roughly 80,000 miles during his running life. Let that sink in a moment: That’s like running from here to L.A. and back more than sixteen times. In 2010, he finished third in the Huntsman World Senior Games. When not running races, Fields directs the wildly successful Sports Medicine
36 O.Henry
September 2014
Fellowship at Cone Health System and is a professor of medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill. His Greensboro patient base numbers in the thousands. “I’ve probably treated 20,000 runners in thirty-five years,” he calculates as we sit down in the Blu Margarita, a short stroll — or jog — from his office. Once upon a time, the architecturally striking environs housed Ganache, known for its pastries. Now it’s the perfect place for pre-run carb-loading on burritos, enchiladas and tacos. Testimonies about Fields’ restorative powers are legion among runners. Beth Deloria has sought Fields’ advice for seven years. “He is unusual in his understanding of athletes.” Simply put, “He gets it.” She developed a paralysis (with the unfortunate name of foot drop) after spinal trauma and surgery, but continues running with the aid of a specialized brace. Deloria credits Fields with helping her recover from various setbacks to power through a grueling schedule of forty-eight half-marathons in twenty-four months as a spokesperson for the brace manufacturer. “He’s an amazing human. Very in tune to his patients, a great sense of humor — even when delivering bad news.” What particularly impresses her is her doctor’s “incredible optimism as he approaches questions of whether or not someone should continue to do what they love. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Photographs by Hannah Sharpe
The good doctor stops running long enough to load up on delicious carbs at Blu Margarita