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Dr. Gordon Larsen, M.D., FACEP is an emergency medicine specialist at St. George Regional Hospital and has over 32 years of experience in the medical field. He graduated from University of Utah medical school in 1991 and completed his emergency medicine residency in Peoria, Illinois at St. France Medical Center. He also completed a wilderness medicine fellowship with the Wilderness Medical Society in Salt Lake City, UT and has been the medical advisor for the EMS and search and rescue programs for Zion National Park since 1996. Outside of work, Dr. Larsen enjoys rock climbing, mountaineering, mountain biking, and snow sports. He has participated in the Huntsman World Senior Games for the past 13 years in mountain biking and triathlon, and he is very excited for climbing this year. Dr. Larsen and his wife Debra are the proud parents of 5 children and 15 grandchildren.

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Scott Nielsen is a businessman by day and an equestrian by night. He is currently a project manager and developer at the Black Desert Resort in Ivins, UT and holds an MBA from University of California, Irvine. However one of the biggest challenges of his life happened earlier this year as he completed a 10-day ultra-endurance horse race deep in the wilds of Patagonia in Southern Argentina called the Gaucho Derby. Not only does this race test your equestrian skills as each day covers 500 kilometers, but it also challenges your wilderness and navigation skills. 

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After many years in a primarily sedentary lifestyle, John Challis’s health journey began more than two decades ago at the invitation of some friends to go workout early mornings at the high school gym. Initially, he focused on strength training, and several years in, he added walking on the indoor track. Once he joined a gym, he progressed to more aerobic training and started to make changes in his diet. These steps in the right direction helped him survive a widowmaker heart attack in 2008 and propelled him to a deeper commitment in personal health and fitness. Since the beginning of this journey, he lost 100 pounds, even through setbacks including a celiac disease diagnosis and a cornea transplant. With the direct support of his wife Julie, John is now at full strength at the age of 65, he works out at the gym most days of the week, and they recently returned from a month-long backpacking trip around England, averaging 17,000 steps each day.

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Kay Glynn is a 70-year-old grandmother of 8 who currently resides in Missouri. She began dancing and acrobatics at the age of 4, and this led to owning her own dance and acrobatics studio for over 20 years. Kay was also a high school track and field phenom who held Iowa’s state long jump record for 30 years. Following graduation, she stepped away from the sport for many years and then resumed near the age of 50, setting national and world records for nearly a decade. Unfortunately, years of high-impact competition took a toll on her body, and she experienced hip dysplasia that led to severe arthritis and required surgeries to resurface both hips to relieve the pain. Despite these setbacks, she has once again risen to the top: at the age of 68, Kay set a new age group world record in pole vault, and a year later, she scored the highest heptathlon point total among men and women ages 65-69 in the National Masters Indoor Combined Events Championships. 

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Joan Young wrote her first story about the outdoors at the age of 7, titled “The Adventures of Skippy the Field Mouse.” Joan’s life has always revolved around the outdoors from walking the woods with her mother to graduating with a Masters degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Michigan and developing a career as a wetland specialist. Now she is a writer of books, articles, and poems. This love of outdoor adventure drove her to ride her bicycle from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean in 1986. In 2010, she became the first woman to complete the North Country Scenic Trail on foot, a hike of 4,395 miles from Vermont to North Dakota. Over 10 years later, at the age of 75, she conquered the trail again, which had changed and now covered over 4,800 miles.

You can learn more about Joan at https://booksleavingfootprints.com/ .

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Dr. Joseph C. Maroon is a Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, longtime team neurosurgeon to the Pittsburgh Steelers, and neurosurgical consultant for WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment). He received his education at Indiana University, Georgetown, University of Vermont, and Oxford University, England and has authored hundreds of scientific peer-reviewed papers and books. Dr. Maroon also co- developed the ImPACT® neurocognitive test for concussion management, now a standard of care for the NFL and all contact sports. A former scholastic All-American in football at Indiana University, Dr. Maroon is also now a world-class triathlete and Ironman. Yet, he hasn’t always been at the top of his game. At the age of 40, Dr. Maroon was so unfit that he struggled climbing a flight of stairs and was depressed to the point of not wanting to continue to live. We will learn how he overcame these challenges and has risen above defeat.

You can learn more about Dr. Maroon at josephmaroon.com or by reading his most recent book, "Square One: A Simple Guide to a Balanced Life."

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Today’s guest is Nate Marshall, a K-12 charter school executive director in Northern Utah. Nate grew up playing a variety of sports, but his favorite was golf. He also became an avid mountain biker, participating in a cross-country biking event that spanned 850 miles from Washington through Oregon and Idaho when he was a high school freshman. In college, Nate began running and coaching a high school cross-country team, leading them to 2nd place in a 65-mile relay with over a hundred teams. Around this time, Nate suffered a spontaneous pneumothorax on the left side and both of his lungs collapsed several times. Many complications led to much of his left lung being removed. You might think that someone with a severely diminished lung capacity would take it easy when it comes to cardiovascular activity, but he has chosen to continue to run and has competed in over 5 Ragnar races, an ultra marathon, and many marathons.

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Our guest this week is 49-year-old Travis Marchant, a hematology/oncology pharmacist at Intermountain Health. Like many American young men, Travis played basketball and football during high school and believed he could do anything physically challenging. As an adult, back injuries tested his perseverance as he transitioned to running and triathlon training. Travis conquered the inaugural full Ironman here in St. George in 2010 but yielded to back surgery the following summer. Perhaps the most significant health challenge he has overcome occurred just over a year ago on what his family has monikered “12% Day.” According to the American Heart Association, only 12% of people survive a widowmaker heart attack that occurs outside of a hospital. Travis will share how this life-altering experience has affected him and his family.

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As a proud member of the St. George Marathon Legacy Club, 52-year-old Idonna Clarke, mother of six children and grandmother of 5, is shooting for her 24th marathon later this year. Idonna’s first exposure to a marathon was at the age of 12 in Los Angeles, where she distributed water cups to runners. As a rising freshman at Brigham Young University, she chose a poster of the St. George marathon to decorate her dorm room. Years later, at the age of 33, Idonna decided she wanted to take on something unique and fun and selected a marathon. As many athletes with 23 marathons under their belt can relate, Idonna has overcome multiple health obstacles, including cardiac, pulmonary, and auto-immune issues. Through it all, Idonna has no regrets and has inspired many of her family members to follow her lead.

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Dr. Warren Butterfield has been in practice as an orthopedic trauma surgeon since 2007. He came to St. George in 2014 to assist in the transition of then Dixie Regional Medical Center to a level 2 trauma center and is currently the Director of Orthopedic Trauma at Intermountain Southwest Ortho Urgent Care. Dr. Butterfield earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Utah, completed medical school at The Ohio State University, and he completed an orthopedic surgery residency in Fort Worth, Texas. Lastly, he completed a fellowship in orthopedic trauma at Grant Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio. Dr. Butterfield enjoys all types of outdoor activities, including hiking, mountain biking, skiing, and sport-climbing.  Dr. Butterfield also volunteers year round coaching his children’s mountain bike and soccer teams.