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The ‘impossible’ really can happen when you have a good action plan.

Some people say mine is the kind of underdog story that makes you want to yell, “Run Forrest, run!” It’s the story of how barely being able to run four laps around a track became the spark that set the course for me to overcome major challenges. I am sharing my story of overcoming personal hurdles in hopes of helping others turn their lives around.

A life-changing invitation
I was about 40 when I lost my father to a heart attack. At the time, I was out of shape and going through a divorce. These factors combined to make me deeply depressed. I soon plunged from a bright career as a Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh to helping my mother manage my father’s truck stop and occasionally pumping gas for 18-wheelers as they rolled in from the nearby interstate.

Dr. Maroon
My metamorphosis back to a healthy lifestyle began months later when a local banker and running enthusiast invited me to go for a run. I ran just four times around the track that day and was exhausted. But I found that night was the first time I’d slept well in about a year. The memory makes me smile. I started running more and more, and began to feel better and better. I became something like the Forrest Gump of Bridgeport, Ohio. I discovered cross training after experiencing some muscle strains from running too much. I learned how to swim, started biking, and soon competed in my first of more than 70 triathlons.

The exercise propelled me out my depression and back onto my feet.  I returned to the University of Pittsburgh as Vice Chairman of Neurological Surgery. That’s about the time I started to investigate proper nutrition and dietary supplements, and began going into my local GNC store to learn more and obtain the proper sports supplements. I realized that proper nutrition and supplementation were important elements if I wanted to continue on the trajectory I was on.  In 1993, I competed in Kona, Hawaii in my first Ironman race, the Superbowl of the triathlon sport, each time placing among the top 10 in my age group except one time when I was dealing with a knee injury.

Dr. Maroon in Kona for 2008 Ironman Triathlon

My life-changing commitment to fitness, nutrition and exercise has brought me professional recognition as well. In addition to my university responsibilities of performing more than 350 neurosurgical operations a year, I am the team neurosurgeon for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Medical Director for World Wrestling Entertainment, serve as Chairman of the GNC’s Medical Advisory Board, and I am a Board Member of the Mylan Pharmaceutical Company, the third largest generic drug manufacturer in the world.

 

 

Triathlon Articles about Dr. Maroon

Tri-State Neurosurgical Associates-UPMC
Office Addresses:
Administrative Oakland Office
Presbyterian University Hospital
Department of Neurosurgery
Suite 5C
200 Lothrop Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
 Phone: 1-888-234-4357