Dr. De La Cruz is a Certified Sports Chiropractor in Pasadena and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Special. Dr. De La Cruz has a true passion to directly influence the lives of those who are injured, keeping the healthy strong, and exploiting the body's ultimate capabilities. Dr. De La Cruz received his Bachelors of Science in Kinesiology, specializing in rehabilitation and therapeutic exercise, in 2014 from California State University of Los Angeles and his Doctorate in Chiropractic from Southern California University of Health Sciences in 2018.
A competitive distance runner himself, Dr. De La Cruz specializes in treatment and injury prevention for runners and knows how devastating a minor setback can be when you’re training for a 5k or marathon. Dr. De La Cruz has worked with runners his entire life as a coach, teammate, intern and now as a running injury specialist chiropractor. He enjoys seeing people accomplish their goals of completing their first marathon, running a personal best, qualifying for Boston and qualifying for the USA Olympic trials. Being able to be a part of this journey for many runners brings great pride to Dr. De La Cruz.
In addition to practicing Chiropractic, Dr. De La Cruz has coached runners for many years. Currently, Dr. De La Cruz is the Marathon Coach for the Pasadena Pacers and has developed a program that includes a 26 week build up to LA Marathon, hill training, strength and conditioning, injury prevention and speed training. This program has grown substantially and currently has roughly 230 runners planning on racing the 2024 LA Marathon. Many whom will be competing their first marathon.
Dr. De La Cruz also coached the Cal State LA Men’s and Woman’s Cross Country and Distance teams and transformed those programs into strong NCAA D2 competitors. He also owns a private coach business called ADrenaline Running. Dr. De La Cruz has helped many post-collegiate distance runners reach personal goals and dreams. Dr. De La Cruz has coached five women to qualified for the 2020 USA Olympic Trials that was held in Atlanta Georgia and has had many others runners run PRs and Boston Qualifiers (BQ)
Prior to ADrenaline Running and Chiropractic, Dr. De La Cruz coached the Norwalk High School Boys Varsity team from 2009 to 2015 and helped them secure four Suburban League Championships and six team qualifications to CIF-SS D2 Prelims. During this time, the Norwalk Boys ran a team school record; fastest team-time ever ran on a three-mile course (2012). Dr. De La Cruz assisted Coach James Maynard in workout planning, strength and conditioning, strategies, and psychological build-up.
Dr. De La Cruz ran track for California State University of Los Angeles for 3 years (2012-2014). During his 3rd and final season, he won the California-Nevada Championships in the 3000m Steeplechase with a time of 9:02.9 which qualified him for the NCAA-D2 National Track and Field Championships. This time was ranked 6th in the nation