Many in our community know Rich Trenholm through his dedication to encouraging healthy active lifestyles.
In addition to being an athlete himself, he is also a family physician, medical director for local events, medical practitioner, and co-owner of Reactivate Muskoka, a multidisciplinary sports medicine and rehabilitation clinic.
When Trenholm first moved to Huntsville, he was not in the best of shape, he says. He had just finished his medical residency which did not leave him time to exercise. But once he saw how active people in Muskoka are and the local opportunities available to live a healthy lifestyle, he began to change his own. He got inspired by local people to step outside his comfort zone and he fell in love with triathlon. “It’s a sport that forces you to cross-train and you don’t have to be top notch in one sport but you can put the three of them together. Over several years it just became my life and engaging a healthy lifestyle—I saw better strength, better mood, and better sleep from exercise.”
And now through his participation in local events, he challenges people to do things that they thought they never could do. He makes opportunities possible for people both through the organization and promotion of local sporting events, and by working with people to teach them about how their own bodies move.
TriMuskokan co-director Rich Trenholm high-fives swimmers on their way into the transition area during the 2017 TriMuskokan
“I love studying human movement. When I see patients that are having issues, I pick out their deficiencies or dysfunctions and work with a great team at the clinic [Reactivate Muskoka] to help them move better. When people move better their health improves overall. They’re happier. They have a great sense of accomplishment to be able to be active and enjoy life to the fullest. That’s the core of it for me. The body is like a puzzle to me, and if a piece of the puzzle doesn’t fit, the rest of the puzzle doesn’t work. I like to figure it out—see how I can help,” says Trenholm.
His resume includes being medical director for many events including the Ironman Muskoka 70.3, race director for the TriMuskokan, organizer of the Sunrise Swim for Strength, and one of the people behind the new MSCLE project, an initiative to get outdoor public exercise stations installed around Huntsville.
And he has been working toward extending his knowledge and expertise internationally.
Trenholm applied to become one of the six physicians on the core medical team for the Lima 2019 Pan American and Parapan American Games. With his involvement in local, provincial and national events, as well as his sports medicine training and experience, he has been earning points towards being selected for major games. Physicians from all over Canada apply for such positions.
Trenholm was selected to support the para cycling, para table tennis, and para judo teams, along with five other physicians, two physiotherapists, and one massage therapist. “It was a huge honour to be chosen and to be a part of the team,” he says. “Most of the team came from major cities—to come from a small town of Huntsville is pretty amazing.”
Trenholm would love the opportunity to work on the medical supporting team for Canada at the Olympics one day.
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Congratulations you deserve it
Congratulations Rich,
A fine athlete, sports physician, community leader and also an accomplished thespian! No end to your talents.
Congratulations to Rich, you are special and we as a community are truly blessed to have you and your wife in our midst. You have certainly put our community on the map in many different ways. Thank you.