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Paul Carey and Owen Cobb
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Lucky 13 future half marathoners with trainers
prostate cancer. One year after surgery and radiation therapy,
doctors saw no traces of cancer.
“So, maybe the Lucky 13 wasn’t for me,” Carey said.
“Maybe it was for my father.”
Surf’s Up, Again
“There is no way I can run a half marathon.”
Those were Owen Cobb’s thoughts when Siene Freeman,
fitness director at Tri-City Wellness Center, encouraged him
to enter the Lucky 13 contest in 2010.
Still on crutches after a hip replacement and almost done
with his physical therapy at the Wellness Center, Cobb, then
34, hadn’t run since childhood. At age 10, he was told he had
the hip of an 80-year-old, the result of a bone infection during
infancy. He grew up walking with a severe limp. By his late 20s,
chronic pain had sapped his enthusiasm for his first love: surfing.
When he was chosen for the 2010 Lucky 13 team, Cobb
was still limping and recovering from hip surgery. So his
intention was to walk the half marathon. Soon, though, he
was doing what he calls a “hobble jog.” Then, two months
into training, he completed an eight-mile run.
“For me, who for a long time could barely walk five blocks
without pain, that was an amazing moment,” Cobb said. “I’ll
never forget it.”
Also unforgettable: running the half marathon in 2 hours,
45 minutes—15 minutes faster than his goal.
For the fourth year, Tri-City Wellness Center
and marathon organizers In Motion Fit are
training the winners of the Lucky 13 contest to run the half
marathon portion of the Tri-City Medical Center Carlsbad
Marathon and Half.
A half marathon is 13.1 miles, hence the contest’s name.
Lucky 13 hopefuls enter by completing an application
that includes an essay on dealing with a personal health
challenge. Winners receive:
• Paid entrance into the half marathon
• A six-month membership at Tri-City Wellness
Center in Carlsbad
• A personalized health assessment
• A personalized training program
As the newest Lucky 13 pursue the fitness goals that
will take them across the finish line next January, previous
contest winners Paul Carey and Owen Cobb stepped up to
describe how this life-changing experience affected them—
in very personal ways.
From Trainee to Trainer
In early 2010, running a half marathon seemed like the
logical next step in a quest Paul Carey had begun on his
31st birthday. That day, he left a psychiatric hospital where
he was being treated for the bipolar disorder that has been
his challenge since age 12. And that day, he was confident in
his decision to seek health in a holistic way.
The Lucky 13 training was a perfect fit.
“The Wellness Center was attractive because it was
natural and it covered everything,” Carey said. “That was
important to me.”
Still, Carey never imagined the life changes ahead. His
training carried him not just through the half marathon,
but also into a new future. Inspired by his Wellness Center
trainers, he’s now earning a bachelor of science degree, the
first step toward his new career goal of being a personal
trainer.
But his wasn’t the only life that changed. Carey’s father,
inspired by his son, committed to an exercise and diet
program that may well have altered the course of his stage IV
FEELING
LUCKY?
HOW THE TRI-CITY LUCKY 13
CONTEST CHANGES LIVES
Fitness
12
Healthy You
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Fall 2012