Huntsman World Senior Games Active Life

Joyce Jackson attended a very small private school in Selah, Washington and enjoyed playing team sports for fun. When she moved to a public high school her senior year, she made the varsity volleyball team, and this sparked her lifelong engagement with fitness. Diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at 23, Joyce turned adversity into purpose by becoming a certified aerobics instructor and later a personal...

Todd Yerkes transformed himself from an underdeveloped high school basketball player into an honorable mention All-State athlete through sheer grit, ultimately playing NCAA DIII basketball. In his 30s, he turned to endurance running—starting with a 4:52 marathon and grinding his way to a 2:56 PR at age 54. Todd has now completed over 55 marathons, 45 ultramarathons (including a solo Rim-to-Rim-to-...

University of California Berkeley graduate and U.S. Army Reserve veteran Walt Becher built a successful career spanning public service, corporate leadership, and entrepreneurship. At age 65, he joined a boutique consulting firm where he continues to work today, helping companies align talent with opportunity. Since relocating to St. George nine years ago, Walt embraced new challenges by taking up...

Paul Madeen is a passionate snowboarder and mountain biker who has built his lifestyle around outdoor adventure and seasonal freedom. In the 2024–25 season, he was one of 11 individuals honored at Steamboat Ski Resort in Colorado for making at least one run every single day—148 consecutive days on the mountain. A Montana native with a forestry degree from Missoula and a background in organic farmi...

Brent Bills is a passionate endurance athlete who has completed 22 St. George Marathons since 2002. He has completed 7 full Ironmans and 17 half Ironmans—11 in St. George alone. At 50, he pushed his limits with 500 miles of racing in one year. Brent ran track and cross country in high school, but his competitive journey took off at a new level in 2001 when friends persuaded him to try a triathlon....

Sherri Davis is a lifelong athlete who embodies the belief that fitness is a lifestyle, not a phase.  She has a love for mountain biking and splits her time and rides between Orange County, California and the rugged terrain of Southern Utah. A former runner with marathons and half-marathons under her belt, Sherri transitioned to lower-impact sports after both knees required replacements. She is al...

Dr. April Flynn is a passionate advocate for healthy aging. At 55, she is in her second year of a Master’s degree in Innovative Aging (aka Gerontology) at the University of Florida, researching ageism and writing about Senior Games culture. A retired chiropractor of 22 years, April’s commitment to wellness runs deep—she ran through two pregnancies right up to the end! Born in Canada, she was a com...

Steve Heck is a lifelong swimmer who was hooked on the Huntsman World Senior Games at age 50 and looks forward to competing for the 15th time in 2025. A former AAU (Amateur Athletic Union), high school, and college swimmer at Georgia Tech, he returned to the sport at 41 through Masters Swimming after a 20-year break. He also ran road races from ages 27 to 44, including one marathon. Steve recently...

Steve Brumwell, 67, has been immersed in sports since junior high, excelling in basketball, football, track, and cross country. A standout athlete, he earned a scholarship to UC Santa Barbara where he focused on distance running and the steeplechase. After a 37-year career as a high school PE teacher and basketball coach, Steve returned to competitive running, inspired by his youngest daughter’s c...

Lee Calvert is a vibrant 100-year-old woman from Southern California. A former actress, she later worked in international dubbing for classic TV shows like The Brady Bunch and I Love Lucy , which enabled her to travel and compete in European badminton tournaments. Her dedication to the sport earned her over 200 medals and induction into the USA Badminton Hall of Fame. After losing her home and tre...

Terah Johnson, a 64-year-old Masters Track and Field athlete from Lehi, Utah, is a mother of seven and married to Eric Johnson. A graduate of San Jacinto College in Pasadena, Texas, she enjoys sewing, cooking, reading, singing, and painting. Terah is Utah’s most decorated female Master athlete 2021-2024, holding numerous state records and earning 129 medals over four years. In 2024, she won six US...

Seventy-five-year old Robbie Stuart is a lifelong athlete whose journey began before women’s sports were widely available. In high school, she jumped at any chance to play, joining the after-school Girls Athletic Association and diving into every sport offered through parks and recreation. With a mom who taught her tennis and a dad who taught her golf, Robbie built a love of movement that never fa...

Trevor Cowley is the kind of person who is all in, in all aspects of life. As a youth, he loved baseball and won the Utah state championships in Little League. As an adult, he loves to play ping pong. However, what gets him out of bed is setting and achieving goals. On January 1, 2022, Trevor challenged himself to complete a grueling 1,000-day "two-a-days" workout challenge, which he pro...

Rob Henderson is dual-licensed recreation therapist and addiction counselor who specializes in behavioral health service delivery: both private practice and professional trainings and development. With a career spanning clinical, administrative, and academic roles, he has served communities across the South- and Mountain-West United States. Rob is the president and founder of four behavioral healt...

Rosemary “Rosy” Spraker is an accomplished marathoner, advocate, and mentor who found her passion for running in 2005 while raising funds for cancer research in honor of her late father. Growing up running in the Colorado mountains with six sisters and three brothers, she developed a love for endurance and competition. Inspired by Kathrine Switzer, Rosy is determined to complete 25 consecutive Bos...

This is part 2 of our conversation with Matt Blanchard. In this episode Matt describes what happened after a second car accident derailed his progress from the previous 15 years of recovery. He thrives in serving others in many ways, including through his organization St. George Adaptive Sports. Matt Blanchard is a Utah-based motivational speaker, devoted husband, and proud father of three. His jo...

Matt Blanchard is a Utah-based motivational speaker, devoted husband, and proud father of three. His journey is one of resilience, redemption, and the belief that life happens for him, not to him. In 2006, a rollover accident left Matt paralyzed from the waist down with a T-12 total spinal cord injury. Through relentless determination and daily therapy over a span of 15 years, he defied the odds a...

From as early as 6 years old, Paula Franetti had the dream to be in the Olympics to experience the thrill of being her very best. This far-reaching Olympic experience fostered an active childhood playing a variety of neighbor pick-up sports until women’s basketball became available in high school 10th grade. Paula’s life revolved around the pursuit of excelling at basketball both in high school an...

Sixty-six-year-old Yolanda Holder, also known as the “Walking Diva,” is a professional ultra-marathon walker and a two-time Guinness World Record holder for the “Most Marathons Completed in a Calendar Year.” She set her first record in 2010 by completing 106 marathons and ultras, then surpassed it in 2012 with 120. In 2019, she became the oldest person to achieve US Race Walk Centurion status (#94...

Former Army Ranger and member of the Special Forces, Dr. Alec Eror, is a cardiothoracic surgeon in St. George, Utah who is affiliated with multiple hospitals in Utah, including Intermountain Health St George Regional Hospital and Intermountain Health Utah Valley Hospital. He received his medical degree from Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine an...

Mort Friedman, 88, is a decorated senior athlete with an impressive career in bowling and softball. Over more than 30 years, he has earned 38 medals at the Michigan Senior Olympics, National Senior Games, and Huntsman World Senior Games. In 2023, he won three gold medals in bowling, setting a new state record in doubles. Despite his age, he competes at a high level, recently rolling a 227 game in...

Stan Swallow’s first bike race was in 1999 when 59 years old. He has been a dedicated cyclist since then.  He established a cycling group named the Utah Velo Club in 2003 at the request of a bike shop in American Fork, Utah.  He rides about 10,000 miles a year alone and with the club.  Rides range from 35 to 100 miles and include riders of all abilities, from teens to seniors.  Stan will chat with...

Carmen's 22-year journey in the Huntsman World Senior Games spans a wide variety of sports and teams, including softball, pickleball, bowling, and track and field. She has competed on multiple teams at the Games, and she has left a lasting impact on each one. Her track and field achievements include shot put, sprints, javelin, and standing long jump.  A pivotal 2010 moment, hitting a walk-off...

Starting her running journey in her early 20s, Elizabeth Bille signed up for a 5K charity race in Washington, D.C., despite never having run that far. The camaraderie and joy of the event hooked her, leading to her first half marathon with her husband, a triathlon in her mid-30s after her youngest child was born, 11 Ragnar races, numerous trail races, and one full marathon in her early 40s. Though...

Dr. Glynis Worthington redefined the concept of lifelong learning by earning a Doctor of Education from the University of Northern Iowa. Her groundbreaking dissertation explored the experience of adults aged 50 and older playing pickleball doubles, uncovering the sport's remarkable capacity to evoke flow—a state of complete immersion and enjoyment. Driven by curiosity, Dr. Worthington spent o...