Dr. Lee Welch, PT, DPT, OCS

Lee Welch is a co-owner of The Running PTs, BYoung Physical Therapy, and 8ctane Baseball. He leads the growth, operations, and clinical development of the organizations, with a focus on building high performing teams and delivering a consistently high level of care across all locations.

Lee began his career specializing in the evaluation and treatment of runners and lower extremity injuries. His philosophy is built on a simple principle: identify what hurts and why. The “what” is the injured structure and must be treated appropriately. The “why” is the underlying root cause, whether related to movement patterns, training load, anatomy, footwear, or strength. While evidence based treatment and manual therapy are used to improve symptoms, long term success depends on identifying and addressing the underlying cause.

While his work began with runners, the same approach has been applied more broadly to lower extremity injuries across active individuals. Running places high and repetitive demands on the body, making it one of the most effective ways to identify and correct movement limitations. This foundation has shaped how care is delivered across the organizations for a wide range of lower extremity conditions.

As the organizations have grown, Lee has transitioned out of a full time clinical role and now focuses on leading the business and developing the people within it. His work spans operations, hiring, and organizational development, with an emphasis on creating structure, accountability, and performance across teams to drive strong patient outcomes and a consistently high level of patient experience.

A key part of his role is clinical education. Lee works directly with each clinic team on a consistent basis, helping to develop clinical reasoning, refine treatment strategies, and ensure consistency in how patients are evaluated and treated across all locations.

He no longer maintains a regular caseload but remains involved clinically through consultation, oversight, and patient care when appropriate.

“Lee exemplifies what it means to be a compassionate, educated, and dedicated physical therapist. As a runner himself, he understands the unique complexity involved when injury sidelines or otherwise interferes with training. With 6 weeks until the NYC Marathon, I strained my calf and could not bear to walk, let alone run. I feared the worst, but I immediately sought Lee’s help and guidance. He worked with me to develop a comprehensive plan to get me back running again and with 3 weeks until the race, I was able to ease back into running. I crossed that finish line with no calf pain and an over ten-minute Boston Qualifying time! I continue to have no pain with my calf and give him all the credit in the world for helping me get to this point because I still have no idea how I was able to run a marathon so soon after that kind of an injury. After my race, he spent time reviewing some prehab work with me so I can keep myself healthy. I highly recommend any injured runner make his or her way over to see Lee and stop living with the pain. He made me a priority and I know he will do the same for you because he loves what he does and that is very evident in his work.”

AMY S.