Rick is a longtime runner and Emmy-nominated TV executive living in Los Angeles. 

He was a miler in high school, lettered in college, and has run the Grand Canyon twice as a cardiac patient. 

A heart attack survivor, he has four stents in his left anterior descending aorta and a defibrillator implanted in the side of his chest. 

Distance running saved Mater’s life. During a 2007 run, he was able to survive a heart attack brought on by a complete occlusion of the LAD (left anterior descending aorta). 

His survival was due to ancillary blood vessels created by his body in response to the rigors of distance running. 

This permitted enough blood to circulate around the blockage and prevent a massive fatal heart attack. 

He continues to run.

Norm: Good day Rick and thanks for taking part in our interview.

What is the one thing other people always seem to get wrong about you?

Rick: Well, as relates to running surprise that I still run. That I haven’t succumbed to bad knees or other injuries and given up running. So many runners in their 60s and older have.

Then there’s the matter of the four stents and a defibrillator implanted in the side of my chest (my own personal shock paddles).  

Norm: What has been your greatest challenge (professionally) that you’ve overcome in getting to where you’re at today? 

Rick: Well, professionally that would be my career in television. I started in my late 20s and was always trying to make up for lost time.

So, I tended to be in a hurry and quite impatient. But eventually that lead to me leaving a secure position at NBC in the 1990s for the startup WB Television Network and a couple major promotions. A true career crossroads. 

Norm: How long have you been running and how many events did you participate in? 

Rick: I started running in high school as miler and also on the cross-country team. In college I lettered in cross-country as a freshman but gave up running by my sophomore year -- distracted by everything else going on in college in those days.

In the 1980s I went back to running for a couple years and raced 5K, 10K, half marathon and marathon distances.

My best event was the 5K and my PR was 18 minutes and change. That’s not bad in my universe, but I would note that I’m much more of an everyday runner than a lot of running book authors who are true athletic standouts. 

Norm: What is your main motivation when running? (why do you run) 

Rick: Well, initially I was better at running than sports like football (too small), basketball (too short), and wrestling (stuck behind the district champ in my weight class).

Then it turned out I really enjoyed running and wasn’t bad at it. I found it a great way to challenge my body, get out into nature (I love trail running), and a good time to think. 

Norm: What do you enjoy most about running, and what do you not like about running? 

Rick: I most enjoy my Sunday long run in Los Angeles: 7 to 10 miles on Canyon trails up into the hills on a gorgeous day, challenging my body and engaging the world thru exercise.

What I don’t like about running isn’t very much. Probably the battle to get my butt out the door on a day when I don’t feel motivated. In the end 90% of the time I’m glad I did.

Norm: What are your running goals?

Rick: At this point it’s all about keeping on running. As noted, after age 60 less and less people keep running. So my running goal is to get out and do it a few times a week, especially a Sunday long run.

And at this point I give myself permission to do some hiking up hills – and there’s nothing wrong with that. 

Norm:  If you could give a single piece of advice to new runners what would it be? 

Rick: If you’re not running with a group or a team or coach of some kind, pick up one of Jeff Galloway’s excellent training guides.

For example, his new book Running Until You’re a 100.

He’s a big advocate of the walk and run method, which is a great don’t kill yourself way to train. The axiom “no pain, no gain” is outmoded thinking. 

Norm: What motivated you to write Six hours: Running For My Life in the Grand Canyon?

Rick: Well, a big reason was to hopefully inspire people to exercise – run and hike -- especially other cardiac patients. Your life doesn’t have to end after a heart attack. Or stents. Or even a defibrillator in the side of your chest.

The other motivation was a achieving a personal goal. At this point in life there’s a finite end point approaching. I always wanted to write books, fiction and non-fiction. So, it’s now or never.  

Norm: What was the main reason why you decided to run the seventeen-mile trail, South Kaibab, to Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon?

Rick: It’s a unique challenge that doesn’t mean competing against past race times you can never hope to replicate. And the Grand Canyon is such a stunning and iconic landmark to run. I was 64 the first time I ran the Canyon.

There’s a chapter in the book titled “A Race Without Mile Markers.” And that’s what it was, especially as my goal was to run it in under six hours. I missed my time goal the first year but went back and achieved it the following year. 

Norm: How did you family react when you told them that you were going to run the trail?

Rick: They weren’t happy. My wife especially was concerned I would suffer a stroke and come back in a wheelchair (or not come back at all).

To calm them down I made sure to do a treadmill test first. That resulted in discovering I needed an additional stent in my widow-maker artery.

I had to delay the run for a year and have another angioplasty instead.

Norm: Would you consider this run to be the highlight of your running career?

Rick: I think running the Grand Canyon is probably the highlight of my running career. But I also enjoyed winning my age group at age 60 in a couple of 5K races, including soon after my first angioplasty and the heart attack that precipitated it.

And there were some performances running cross-country in college that I was proud of.

Not to get corny, but in some ways just running trails on my Sunday long run – still at it at this point in life, still out there no matter the cardiac issues -- is the highlight of my running career.

Norm: What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them?    

Rick: There were a lot of goals and intentions. It’s an ambitious book. There’s the description of the run itself and the journey through geological time in the Grand Canyon.

From the 300-million-year-old Kaibab limestone on the south rim to the 1.6-billion-year-old Vishnu Schist of the Colorado River gorge.

Also telling the human story of the Canyon, from the Native Americans – Havasupai, Paiute, and Hopi -- to explorers, miners, and settlers.

There is the impact of man on the environment and eco systems, climate change, and global warming; past global extinctions and what comes next for us on planet Earth. And finally running as a cardiac patient and the dangers that presented.

Norm: What was the most difficult part of writing the memoir?

Rick:  That it’s brutally honest and personal. My earlier novel Beat was an account of post-counterculture San Francisco circa 1976 and a Roman a clef. But in the end it was fiction.

For Six Hours: Running For My Life in the Grand Canyon there is no veil of fiction to hide behind.

Rather one strand of the narrative deals with looking back at one’s life: the failures, successes, bad moments and good, regrets and the desire for a do over.

Sometimes when I was writing I just put out of my head that people were going to actually be reading the words. 

Norm: Where can our readers find out more about you and Six hours: Running For My Life in the Grand Canyon?

Rick: My WEBSITE,  which includes a map of the run along with photos of the route. Or Google the book and Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and more information will come up. It’s also available by ordering through your local bookstore if it’s not on the shelf yet in the running section. 

Norm: What is next for Rick Mater?

Rick: I’m working on another non-fiction book. And still running – of course!

Norm: As this interview comes to an end, what do you hope will be the everlasting thoughts for readers who finish your memoir? 

Rick: I think a big takeaway is that no matter if you are in your 50s, 60s, 70s, or 80s, you can improve your quality of life by running or hiking or brisk walking.

And even if you are a cardiac patient – and there are something like 28 million cardiac patients in the US -- it’s possible to lead an active, engaged, forward leaning life. 

Norm: Thanks once again and good luck with all of your endeavors

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