BACK IN STRIDE

EXPERT CARE AND PURPOSE FUELS RUNNER'S POST-KNEE REPLACEMENT TRIUMPH

- By Charles Buchanan

As Caryn Honig crossed the finish line at the 2025 Boston Marathon, she completed a 26.2-mile physical and emotional journey. The Houston-based dietitian, professor and lifelong runner made history that morning as the first woman known to run the Boston Marathon after receiving a partial knee replacement. Just a few years earlier, Honig was sidelined by debilitating knee pain that halted her running career — until Dr. Richard A. Berger, a world-renowned orthopedic surgeon at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush in Chicago, performed the innovative procedure that made her remarkable comeback possible. Her impressive finishing time of 04:12:37 turned her triumph into momentum, earning her a qualifying spot for the 2026 race. “To be able to qualify and run Boston after a knee replacement is a dream come true,” Honig says.

Dr. Berger's trailblazing, minimally invasive knee and hip replacement, combined with his concierge-style, telehealth-infused care, delivers markedly quicker, less painful recoveries and superior, long-term outcomes versus traditional surgery. Patients depart the hospital within hours after surgery, resume work within days and return to favorite pursuits — including sports — in under a month, says Dr. Berger. “I'm dedicated to helping each patient take back their life and achieve their ambitions,” he says.