If you listen to the ButteCast, you have likely heard the Mariah’s Challenge public service announcement from Mark Parvinen.

Parv was one of the very first to accept Mariah’s Challenge. He was inspired to do so when he went to a Butte High-Anaconda basketball doubleheader. He wanted to see the Class AA No. Bulldog girls take on the No. 1 Class A Copperheads.

He didn’t realize that decision would change his life forever.

As luck would have it, that just so happened to be the night that Leo McCarthy launched Mariah’s Challenge, just a few months after his daughter, Mariah, was killed by an underage drunk driver.

Mark said he was an out-of-shape guy who drank too much. Way too much. He called himself a 240-pound bourbon junkie. (Read a story Mark wrote about his journey here.)

Not only did Mark give up drinking after seeing Leo’s presentation, he started to work out. That to Mark running the New York City Marathon to raise money for the Mariah Daye McCarthy Scholarship. He ran alongside his wife Jodi.

If you have followed my career, you know that Mariah’s Challenge is very near and dear to my heart. The night Mariah McCarthy was killed by an underage drunk drive in October of 2007 was also the last night I had even a sip of alcohol.

Hearing the news that my friend lost his 14-year-old daughter destroyed my desire to drink. It made me take a long look in the mirror and make a change so I could become a better husband and father.

Leo’s talk at the Butte Civic Center that night in February of 2008 did the same for Mark.

Oct. 28 marks the 17th anniversary of Mariah’s death. With that, I thought it would be good time to catch up with Parv. We need to keep Mariah’s story alive.

Listen in to hear how Mariah’s Challenged changed Mark’s life for the better. Listen as we share New York Marathon stories and talk about the emotions we felt as we ran miles for Mariah.

Listen in as we talk about how we are still amazed at the courage of Leo McCarthy all these years later.

Today’s podcast is presented by Casagranda’s Steakhouse. Eat where the locals eat.