March Health Hero: Jeff Clark and his dog, Jack

Jeff Clark of Kewaunee, Wis., is a 49-year-old owner-operator leased to Transport International out of Pittsburgh and is training for his fourth marathon this spring. He’s come a long way from the days when the only exercise he got was walking from the truck to the truckstop, but he says he’ll never go back to his sedentary lifestyle. Three years ago his doctor told him he was at high risk for the heart disease that runs in his family, and he decided to change his lifestyle. He started off walking and gradually added short amounts of slow running.

“Eventually, I started running in local races and then decided to train for a marathon,” Clark says. He looks forward to downtime when he can run with Jack, his canine traveling companion.

The marathoner doesn’t mind that he finishes toward the back of the pack. “It’s not about time, it’s about the effort that goes into finishing,” he says. In fact, he’s so passionate about the health issues that plague truckers that he’s written and self-published a book, Hey, We’re Dying Out Here: The Truth About the Driver’s Shortage, in which he explores the reasons truckers live 15 fewer years than the average American male. “We’ve got to look at the whole system and figure out how to improve the life and health of truck drivers,” he says.

How long have you been driving?

20 years.