of mine for the last 25 years. Based on my ideas we created the characters and story line and then Tim put it all together in the form of a fictional story with a real message. I hope that The Healthy Mechanic will inspire you to take more responsibility for your health. Thank you, Tim, for making this possible and for your patience in working through my notes.
I would also like to thank my wife, Gaye, and our six children, Tanya, Ben, Dayna, Karina, Jake and Whitney. They are my greatest teachers.
A Message From The Co-Author
In the mid-1980s, shortly after I moved to Wakefield, Quebec, Dr. Ed Chicoine opened his chiropractic clinic in the heart of this quaint village nestled in the Gatineau Hills, on the banks of the Gatineau River. I had just started running at that point in my life after quitting smoking on the previous New Year’s Eve. It was a dramatic change in lifestyle, prompted by growing concerns about the state of my physical condition and the desire to offer a positive role model to my children.
What caught my attention during my first visit to Dr. Ed’s clinic was the certificate hanging on the wall. Not the one from the chiropractic college that verified his credentials. It was the one hanging below it, verifying his completion of the Niagara Falls Marathon in a time of 2:39. It was motivating to meet another runner. It was impressive to meet someone who had completed a marathon. It was awe-inspiring that he had done so in what I considered to be an elite finishing time. Although we were on polar ends of the running spectrum, we did have a common bond through which a friendship developed. The timing could not have been more fortuitous. I was relying on my own instincts as I headed down my new lifestyle path. I soon discovered that Dr. Ed had a wealth of knowledge and guidance to offer on how to nurture my body’s internal health care system. My visits to his clinic were helpful in a truly holistic sense: the adjustments that he administered removed interference and allowed energy to flow freely throughout my body; our discussions on a wide range of topics related to health and wellness were instructive and inspiring on the mental, emotional and spiritual levels.
During one of our discussions, Dr. Ed explained that he had formulated the 10 secrets to wellness (that number would eventually change). He gave me a sheet of paper on which he had written down the secrets, explaining that if people would simply incorporate these principles and practices into their lifestyles, it could change the way that we view what we refer to as “health care”. This was even before the emergence of the current health care crisis. The best way to get the message out to the masses, he believed, would be to write a book which explained the secrets and how to incorporate them into one’s daily life. There would be many attempts to craft the message in a way that would capture the attention of people from all walks of life. Over a period of several years, the book that you are now reading emerged. We decided that a storytelling format would be most effective. While the characters in The Healthy Mechanic are fictional, the topics that they discuss during their sessions together are very real.
After moving out of Wakefield and into the city, I continued to visit Dr. Ed on a regular basis. Our sessions would include adjustments and discussions about the book. Throughout those years, Dr. Ed continued to attend seminars and workshops. He would bring back new techniques, tools and practices that he had learned, often trying them out on me and my wife, Marian, who were always happy to be the guinea pigs. I was like Ben Dayton, whom you will meet in this story, travelling to Wakefield for education and enlightenment at the feet of Daniel Webster and his wife, Elizabeth. As it turned out, Dr. Ed would be more like Ben than I was. Along with his wife, Gaye, and their six children, he embarked on the Marathon of Health, a run across the North American continent, in both directions, to spread the knowledge that is contained in this book. The message is simple, yet powerful: to help everybody realize their inner potential for vibrant health and improved performance by creating a transformation in the way we view health care. This is the essence of the “secrets”, in a nutshell.
Dr. Ed and his family walk the talk. They live their lives according to the principles in this book. They are a vibrant, wholesome, united family who enjoy good health, a positive outlook on life, and success in whatever they decide they are going to tackle next. The Marathon of Health is an ambitious and inspirational undertaking. It is also an example of what the human body and spirit can achieve, simply by incorporating the ideas contained in this book into your lifestyle.
I have tried to live my life according to these secrets. Over the past quarter century, I have completed 41 marathons, 12 of them on the famed Boston course. I have competed in more than 180 races at every distance from 2 kilometres to 42.2 kilometres. More recently I started competing in triathlons. At the age of 55 I completed an iron distance triathlon (4 kilometre swim; 180 kilometre cycle; 42.2 kilometre run). I believe that lifestyle choices inspired by the secrets in The Healthy Mechanic have given me the strength, endurance, and mental/emotional stamina required to compete at this level, at this stage of my life. Helping Dr. Ed write this book has been an invaluable learning experience. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him on this project.
I would like to acknowledge the support of my wife, Marian, who has actively participated in the journey of discovery over the years as we have incorporated the secrets into our lifestyle. She has become a runner, a swimmer and a triathlete in her own right. Her perseverance, stamina and dedication to healthy living are inspirational.
I hope that you enjoy the story and find the messages inspiring. They are the only tools you need to be able to tune up and thrive.
Tim Scapillato
Hull, Quebec
December 2012
Chapter 1: Introduction
At 98, Benjamin Dayton shows no signs of fatigue. Now more than three decades past the age at which most people of his generation would have retired to enjoy their “golden years”, Ben continues to travel the world at a pace that would challenge the stamina of someone half his age. Tall and slim, he carries himself with nearly perfect posture. Only his full head of white hair suggests that this is an “elderly” person but, as he likes to point out, at least it’s all still there. His mind is as quick and sharp as that of a young man—he can still take to the stage and speak for a couple of hours without notes. Of course, this is easy to do when the message comes straight from the heart: revealing the 11 secrets of total wellness had become his enduring passion more than 50 years ago.
Ben stands on his hotel room balcony and watches the retractable roof of the Great Lakes Multi-Dome slowly yawn open. A damp breeze drifting in from the lake brings little relief from the heat on this hot August afternoon. The cavernous concrete dome across the street will be filled to the roof this evening when a crowd of almost 100,000 is expected to listen to Ben deliver another of his inspirational and immensely popular presentations. Large audiences energize him and tonight’s crowd will be the biggest he has ever addressed. He can already feel the adrenaline beginning to race throughout his body. He paces nervously, breathes deeply and tries to relax.
On stage, Ben needs neither notes nor props. He is the living proof of his simple but powerful message. Millions around the world have heard him speak of the crucial interplay among body, mind, emotions and soul. Nourish only one of them at the expense of the others and true wellness will never be achieved. But nourish all of them to the fullest and optimum health and wellness—and a long and healthy life—are within the reach of anyone. That was it. That had become his mantra. The 11 secrets were the user manual on how to provide the nourishment.
The formula for a long and healthy life is neither complicated nor mysterious. It involves no magical elixirs. Ben isn’t a doctor or a scientist. In the early years, in fact, he was often compared to the proverbial snake-oil salesman. But nothing of which he speaks to his audiences is really secret at all. Since few people seemed to have incorporated these principles
