Gordon Harris, Kanab scholarship competitor

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Gordon Harris had intended to save money this year in order to participate in the Grand to Grand Ultra in 2019 – the year he turns 50. However, Paul Grimm, a previous scholarship competitor (and now advisor and friend), suggested he apply for a scholarship this year. Colin and Tess Geddes were pleased to award Harris the scholarship. “He is positive and enthusiastic,” said Colin.

Harris says that in his “normal life” he is ”a husband, son, father, Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, meditator, ultra-race enthusiast and Sudoku fanatic.” He also loves quantum physics, numerology, reading (especially Lee Child books) …just a few of his wide swath of interests and practices, which he enjoys using to help himself and others.

His professional calling is working with RedCliff Ascent, a wilderness therapy program headquartered in Enterprise, Utah. Harris is well-suited for this role. His own life journey was characterized by dealing with cycles of addiction and treatment. He says he realizes that his Aspergers characteristics have been a factor in his struggle to deal with life’s challenges.

t wasn’t until his late 30s that he began to “get it.” Harris says he had spent most of his life “lost, with no idea what to do and no confidence in himself. He began going to a 12-step program, which he found had the process for recovery he needed. “I began to have faith in the universe and in following my heart. I learned the difference between fear-based and faith-based decisions. I began to ask, ‘What do I want to do with my life?’ ‘Who do I want to do it with?

Harris was always a hard worker. “I was just as much a workaholic as an alcoholic. Addiction is addiction,” he says. He was learning to frame and finish houses in the St. George area when someone suggested wilderness therapy might be a good fit. He decided to check out a wilderness experience. “It was an eight-day, unpaid job interview!” He loved it. He was offered a job and accepted it wholeheartedly, forgoing a promotion in the construction industry.

n his quest to help himself and others, he says he has found immense value “in the intersection of Western scientific methodology and Eastern contemplative practices. It is not easy to convince kids, who are addicted to drugs and alcohol, and may not want to be in the wilderness program, to try meditation (something they REALLY don’t want to do!) as a way to help them figure out their lives.”