MEET YOUR PHYSIO & RUNNING COACH 

Hi running fam, I’m Jeroen! I’m the founder of The Running Collective.

Originally from Belgium, I’ve been living and running in Aotearoa New Zealand since 2021. As the son of an athletics couple, I had no other choice than to join an athletics club at age 6 😉 I quickly found out that running was my real passion.

 

Having sustained a running injury myself and knowing how it feels to not be able to practice the sport that you love, I soon became interested in rehabilitation and physiotherapy. In 2014, I graduated with a Master's in Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy from Ghent University. After my graduation, I still wanted to see a bit of the world, so I travelled through New Zealand for 4 months where I met the love of my life and the marketing brain of The Running Collective.

 

After my return to Europe, I did a postgraduate in Manual Therapy and gained valuable work experience as a self-employed physiotherapist in my home country. I also travelled throughout Europe to take multiple courses in Neurokinetic Therapy (NKT), a real game-changer in how I treat my patients.

 

New Zealand never left our hearts and we decided to start the long process to get registered as a physio in New Zealand right before the big pandemic started. We eventually arrived in March 2021. During my first few years here, I started running marathons (PB 2h 39’48”) and worked as a physiotherapist at a larger company. 

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Seeing how physiotherapy in New Zealand mainly consisted of education and exercise prescription, I did not feel immediately at home. With my hands-on approach, I felt physiotherapy sessions did not last long enough to make a difference for my patients.

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That's when I decided to start my own business. In January 2023, The Running Collective was born!​