Dr. Extreme studies athletes who push through pain

[rainbowgirl28]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/h ... bak12.html

Dr. Extreme studies athletes who push through pain
By Richard Seven
Seattle Times staff reporter


COURTESY OF DR. BRIAN KRABAK
Dr. Brian Krabak of Seattle specializes in nonsurgical prevention and treatment of sports-related injuries. In this photo he's shown in the Gobi Desert, one of the legs of the "4 Deserts" series of endurance races around the world for which he serves as medical director.
Tonight

Dr. Brian Krabak will speak at

7 p.m. at REI, 222 Yale Ave. N., Seattle. No registration required; free.

The first question usually is: Why?

The next question: Who are these people?

The next: Are they crazy?

While not so blunt and far more respectful, Seattle doctor Brian Krabak researches these overarching questions as he serves as medical director for extreme races in extreme conditions. He has tended to competitors in 150-mile races in the Gobi and Sahara deserts and Chile's Atacama Crossing, and next week will be working an Antarctica race.

It is part of the "4 Deserts" series, and each participant of this frigid leg has to have completed the other three races. Competitors will race 250 kilometers (about 155 miles) in stages over seven days.

Krabak, 40, specializes in nonsurgical prevention and treatment of sports-related injuries.

He came to the University of Washington Medical Center from Johns Hopkins, was team doctor for the Baltimore Orioles and worked two Olympic Games. He also was an extreme athlete who competed in more than two dozen endurance events himself, which gives him "street cred" when trying to tell an extreme athlete who has paid a hefty entrance fee (almost $9,000 for the Antarctic race) whether he or she should â€â€