A 26-Year-old man came into my office complaining of pains in his feet, knees, and the back of his legs.  He reported that he was training with a running club to run in the LA Marathon.  He said for years he had been experiencing leg pains which eventually went up into his lower back.  He noticed while training with the LA Marathon prep club as he approached the 5 mile point, his leg pains increased to the point he had to stop running.  I did a thorough Chiropractic and Physical Therapy Examination including observing how he stood, walked, and ran.  I explained to Jim that he had an alignment problem in his lower back with abnormal tone in his lower back muscles.  The examination of his feet showed he had flat feet (no arches) and his feet turned in, causing his knees to be inward and touching.  I scanned Jim’s feet with a computerized foot scanner which makes an image of his feet, his arches, and the exact areas of weight distribution of his feet.  I then sent his scans plus special instructions to a company I use to have customized Orthotics made up for Jim.  I then started Jim on a series of Chiropractic adjustments followed by soft tissue work using Physical Therapy to both his lower back and his feet.  With the Customized Orthotics in his shoes Jim noticed a difference in how he walked and stood.  His posture also became greatly improved.  As a matter of fact, Jim told me the following week when I saw him for his follow up appointment he felt he had become taller.  I explained to him by shifting the his weight off the inside of his feet and knees with the Orthotics and fixing the alignment of his lower back by the Chiropractic adjustments he wwas standing up straighter causing him to have more height in his spinal column.  On the weekend when he went running with the club he found that he was able to run the entire 12 miles for the first time without any pains causing him to abort the run as he had to in the past.