June 17, 2025 — Amid the busy life of a physician, Robert Hatch, M.D., M.P.H., found comfort in the spirit of running and outdoor recreation. The flow of the sport eased his stress and reconnected him with nature.

Decades later, his passion has manifested an impressive record of achievements, including four ultra marathons, three Ironman distances and 125 triathlons. At age 68, he feels fortunate to continue crossing finish lines and mentoring medical students as a University of Florida College of Medicine professor, vice chair of medical student education and director of the H. James Free Center for Primary Care Education and Innovation.

In January 2023, that passion came to an abrupt halt. One moment, Hatch was enjoying a bike ride. Then, he suddenly found himself regaining consciousness on the ground, confused and disoriented. He had been struck by a motorcycle. In the UF Health Shands Hospital emergency room, surrounded by fellow College of Medicine physicians and trainees, diagnoses flooded in: a broken jaw, fractured seventh cervical vertebrae, torn knee ligament and torn meniscus. In the midst of this shocking occurrence, the thought of running never left his mind.

“When that injury happened, I thought I’d probably never run again,” said Hatch, a professor in the Department of Community Health & Family Medicine. “But it was like part of my mental health to run.”

His recovery journey would involve a meniscus surgery and a long healing process to get back on his feet. Hatch followed all the precautions, even if it meant taking it slow. He credits his progress to the great medical care of UF Health physicians, especially Kevin W. Farmer, M.D., at the UF Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Institute. By September 2023, he began easing back to his favorite sport — slowly rebuilding his distance, one step at a time. Hatch found comfort in friends and family, and along the way, he discovered a new appreciation for running on trails, which he now prefers over pavement. Even so, it would still take time for him to return to running marathons.

“I wasn’t diving right in, but just going gradually and seeing how it worked,” Hatch said. “There’s very little to lose with that. Know what you want and go for it, but intelligently.”

With time and patience, he paced himself in training for a triathlon with the TriGators, a UF triathlon club. Hatch’s determination paid off, and he went on to win in his age group, qualify for nationals and even succeed some of the younger competitors. Even with this new sense of accomplishment, he was still striving to accelerate from bicycle to running shoes.

In December 2024, nearly two years after the accident, Hatch found himself side by side with his daughter Melissa, crossing the finish line of a 50-mile ultramarathon after 15 hours. Receiving an award for finishing last, he felt it was nothing short of a triumph.

“When I was finished, I just felt like I was on top of the world to have been able to hang in there and do that,” he said. “It felt really good to get that award because that’s the person who kind of dug the deepest and hung in the longest. That’s what I had to do, and I was proud of that.”

As he begins to enter retirement this month, Hatch is far from slowing down. Though he is stepping down from his medical and academic practice, he plans to continue to serve others in meaningful ways through his love of physical activity, nature, friends and family, and helping others. And this December, he will take on his biggest challenge yet: a 100-mile ultramarathon. His goals are to finish the race and to let someone else relish in being the slowest. Even when the hills are steep, there is no stopping him.

“The amazing part of his story is most people would have been done; I certainly never thought he would run again,” said Hatch’s longtime colleague Chad Roth, the associate director of operations at the UF College of Medicine. “It’s a truly remarkable achievement. His life story is inspiring in general, but what he just overcame to become an ultramarathon runner again is truly remarkable.”

Looking back on his years at UF Health and the College of Medicine, Hatch said he is most proud of the students he mentored, the patients he cared for and the colleagues he collaborated with. To this day, he continues to receive messages from former students, who express gratitude for techniques they learned from him that they use in their own practices. Making a difference in people’s lives has always been the heart of his work.

“The main thing is the people I touched and the things I taught them,” Hatch said. “The other stuff comes and goes, but what you do with people is the most lasting thing.”