Mokelumne Hill, CA…Mark Borchin of Mokelumne Hill is the picture of health – blessed with low blood pressure and high metabolism. To keep it that way he is an active runner, plays basketball every week and hikes with his wife. But, he is always aware that stress looms as a big health threat. Mark is sharing his personal experience as a spokesperson for the local “Tackle Your Health” awareness campaign during Men’s Health Month in November. This public education effort is co-sponsored by Mark Twain Medical Center and the Mark Twain Health Care District.

Mark says, “I stay active because it relieves stress. “It’s the best thing men can do for themselves – run, play sports, keep moving. Be honest with yourself. You know when you are getting stressed out.”

For Mark stress was building as he took his business from a windshield repair shop in his garage to ABC Auto Glass, a regional enterprise with three locations that he turned into a thriving a Glass Doctor franchise some 11 years ago. “I finally realized you cannot become a prisoner of your business. You worry about everything and it takes a toll in fatigue and loss of sleep.”

“I made a decision to cut back my business and spend more time with my family. Once you start raising kids you soon recognize you need to take care of yourself so you can be around to take care of them.”

“At this point in my life I feel like I’m having a second childhood and this one is a lot more fun,” he adds. We do a lot of outdoor activities as a family – we run and we hike a lot.”

As a child Mark spent summers in Mokelumne Hill with his grandparents George and Antonette Borchin. “My granddad worked me hard,” Mark smiles. “I was the city kid coming from Sacramento to the country and he definitely put me to work. I learned a lot for sure – a great work ethic– but there wasn’t much time for play.”

Mark and his wife Eva are now raising the fourth generation of Borchin kids in his grandparents’ home. They moved there permanently from Sacramento in 1997. Olivia,19; Lucas, 16 and Katarina, 14, all excel at Cross Country, with their dad often running along with them as they train.

“I run along with them,” Mark says. “I try to keep up but they just keep going.”

His advice for other men is “to find something you love to do and keep doing it. I’ve been playing basketball with the same group of guys once a week for years. Sure it’s great exercise – but the camaraderie is just as important. We challenge each other to be our best.”

Mark joins three other local men – Bret Hart High School Coach Casey Kester, Calaveras High School Coach Jason Weatherby and veteran firefighter and chaplain Dick Brown – as spokesmen for the “Tackle Your Health” campaign. They will be speaking out in local media advertisements throughout Men’s Health Month in November.