A Call To Action

In early 1997, Utah resident Ed Bodily weighed 340 pounds. Which didn't bother him that much until he suffered a minor stroke. That's when Ed's doctor said he'd better change his lifestyle if he wanted to live to see his two children grow up. "That scared me into action," says Ed, 44, who works in the business office at Central Utah Medical Clinic in Provo.

Ed consulted with a nutritionist and started riding an exercise bike. In May of 1997 he switched to running. Five months later he finished the St George (Utah) Marathon in 4:30. A year later he did it in 3:25. "My life is so much better now that I'm active," says Ed, who's down to 185 pounds. "My friends never thought I could do this, but I made believers out of them. Now they're running marathons too."