Dr. Samantha Wood is a physical therapist, an ultra-endurance athlete, and a Lieutenant Colonel in the California Army National Guard assigned to Joint Force Headquarters. She served 7 years active duty for the Army as a physical therapist where she provided sports medicine coverage for athletes on All-Army and combined Armed-Forces teams, Wounded Warrior athletes, and the Army’s World Class Athlete Program. She has competed as an Army athlete in the CISM World Marathon Championships (2013), CISM World Orienteering Championships (2014), and the All-Army Marathon (2010, 2011, 2012), Cross Country (2014), and Obstacle Course Racing (2015, 2016, 2017) teams as well as local military running teams. She currently competes with the California Guard marathon and biathlon teams. She was also a member of team "Commanding Officers" in season 2 of "Spartan Ultimate Team Challenge” and has been a Select Spartan Pro Team member in the past. In 2018 and 2022 Sam won the Leadwoman competition (Leadville Race Series). In 2019 she placed 3rd in the Leadville 100-mile trail run with a sub-24 hour performance. Dr. Wood is board certified in Orthopedics from the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialists, a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (NSCA), and a Certified APTA Clinical Instructor. She holds additional certifications in the Functional Movement Screen, the Selective Functional Movement Assessment, Integrated Dry Needling (Advanced), and Functional Taping (Rock Tape). Dr. Wood frequently performs running assessments and has instructed group running courses for the military.Samantha graduated from the US Army-Baylor Doctoral Program in Physical Therapy in 2011. She holds a B.S. in Exercise Science from Lipscomb University (Nashville, TN, 2007). While competing in NCAA Div I cross country and track, she earned All-Conference Honors and was Lipscomb cross country MVP in 2006. She graduated from El Campo High School in 2003 and still maintains the 1,600m and 3,200m track records for the school. She is the only cross country runner from El Campo to qualify for the state meet in cross country four straight years.Sam is particularly passionate about ankle/foot health as it relates to walking and running mechanics. She believes modern humans have fallen prey to an environment that does not support our basic human needs…shoes that do not allow our feet to function normally, lack of natural light, lack of proper nutrition, and general lack of movement and exposure to the elements.