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'Marv'-elous Woodbury Looks to 2007 Senior Games
By Stephen Vincent
When Marv Woodbury was working for the Bureau of Land Management while he was in his 50s, he and the other BLM employees who wanted to become firefighters had to pass a series of physical tests.
One of those tests was to run 1.5 miles in 15 minutes. Woodbury did it 10. Two minutes faster than anyone else – even though Woodbury was two or three decades older than the other would-be firefighters.
Woodbury had, for a long time, desired to get back into competitive athletics, but a congenital blood pressure ailment that had cut short his college basketball career had limited his competitive involvement.
But after his success in the BLM training, Woodbury wanted another shot at competition. A few years later, he read that a new World Senior Olympics, as the Huntsman World Senior Games were then called, was starting in St. George.
“I saw the ad, and I thought, 'Hey, I like 5 and 10K races around here, and I can outrun those younger guys, so I thought I would give it a try,'” Woodbury said. “And I got addicted to it.”
Woodbury participated in those first games in 1987, and he has participated in every one since then – not even letting something like open heart surgery slow him down. For his efforts, Woodbury has over 50 medals and has been inducted into the Huntsman World Senior Games Hall of Fame.
Woodbury, who is now 81 years old, is one of 15 seniors to have participated in every Senior Games. The 2004 games, though, may have been his most memorable.
On April 1, 2004, Woodbury had open-heart surgery. He received seven bypasses and had his aorta valve replaced during the surgery.
Following the surgery, Woodbury had a couple questions for his doctor.
“I talked to my doctor and asked him, 'How long will it take me to get over this? Will I be able to run a triathlon in six months?” Woodbury said.
The doctor replied that he had never heard of anyone running a triathlon after open-heart surgery.
“I said, 'I'm not the average person; I'm not a couch potato,” Woodbury said.
Six months later, Woodbury ran that triathlon.
Woodbury considers the completion of that marathon to be one of the highlights of his athletic career. Another highlight came in 1997 when he competed in a National Master's track event in San Jose, Calif. Woodbury, who was 71 at the time, won the pentathlon in his age group. The track officials also had an age-graded competition that calculated what Woodbury and the other competitors' point totals would be if they were all 30 years old. From that, it was determined that Woodbury would have had the most points of any of the competitors.
Woodbury was born in 1926 in a house where the Far West Bank now stands on Tabernacle Street.
Woodbury spent his boyhood roaming the Black Hill with his friends, who called themselves “The Westside Gang.” During his boyhood, the only manmade object that could be seen on the Black Hill was the 'D'.
Woodbury played football, basketball and track at Dixie High School.
Woodbury joined the Navy in 1944. Even though he failed the physical tests because of his blood-pressure condition, Woodbury was insistent enough that the Navy let him join. He spent the next two years stationed in San Diego, and during that time, he played on three different naval base basketball teams.
After that, Woodbury returned to St. George, where he played on the Dixie Junior College basketball team in 1947. He also married Dora Jean Leavitt that year.
Then, Woodbury transferred to Utah State University to study range, forestry and wildlife management. Woodbury was not allowed to play on the Aggie basketball team because of his blood pressure.
And he stayed away from competitive sports until the Senior Games came along.
After his first Senior Games, Woodbury quickly branched out to other events besides the distance races.
He has participated in the horseshoes, javelin, discus, cycling and long jump, and he has also run in the 200-meter, 400-meter, 800-meter, 1500-meter, 3200-meter and triathlon races.
When Woodbury decided to begin participating in the shot put, discus and javelin events, he approached legendary Dixie High School football coach Walter Brooks, who lived near Woodbury. He asked for Brooks' help, and Brooks taught Woodbury the proper form.
A few years later, Woodbury returned the favor, holding up Brooks, who had suffered a stroke, while the coach threw the javelin in the Senior Games. Woodbury said it was an emotional moment for him.
“It just kind of hit me that a person who was like he was and had a love for sports like he did still wanted to participate,” Woodbury said. “That's a moment I'll always treasure.”
Woodbury trains five or six days a week to get ready for the competitions.
“We talk about the health and fitness aspects, but the competition is what gives me the motivation to keep on going,” Woodbury said. “My competitions urge me to stay healthy because I know what my competition is doing. They're training five, six or seven days a week. If I don't do it, I won't keep up with them.”
Woodbury, who is only competing in the team triathlon this year because of recent hernia surgery, said he is grateful that people like John and Daisy Morgan and Sylvia Wunderli had the vision to start the Senior Games.
“I appreciate what the Senior Games has done for me,” he said. “It's not been hard for me to get up in the morning and take off.”
Including the medals he has received from the Utah Summer Games, St. George Marathon and other competitions, Woodbury has 224 medals that line two walls in his house, medals he plans to one day distribute to his 32 grandchildren.
But the one honor Woodbury treasures most is being inducted into the Huntsman Games Hall of Fame.
“The highlight of my athletic career is being nominated into the Hall of Fame,” said Woodbury.
Woodbury adds that the Games have helped make friends with people from around the world.
But, above all, it has helped him find success in doing what he's always enjoyed doing.
“There's no age limit for doing what we did when we were younger,” Woodbury said.

The Huntsman World Senior Games begin Monday, Oct. 8 and continue through Oct. 20. For information about Senior Games events, visit them online at www.hwsg.com.

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