Corvallis massage therapist aids top Olympic athletes - Corvallis Gazette Times

[massage]

Don Butzner’s list of elite-level track and field athletes he's had as clients is a long one.


But an opportunity presented to him in 2014 was different.


Multi-event stars Ashton Eaton and Brianne Theisen-Eaton were looking for a veteran massage therapist, and Butzner was the man their coach, Harry Marra, and agent, Paul Doyle, were pursuing.


It would be a two-year commitment for Butzner, which meant basically shuttering his established Corvallis clinic and giving up a large amount of family time.


But all it took for him was meeting the sport’s most well-known couple and his decision had been made.


“They are fantastic people … and there was little doubt at that point,” Butzner said. “They were worth two years of my time to help them achieve their goals.”


Butzner’s wife, Kim, agreed, and his life has changed dramatically since.


The Albany man has traveled the world with the Eatons as they chase a single objective: Olympic gold medals in Rio de Janeiro in August.


“I can’t imagine where we would be if he wasn’t there,” said Theisen-Eaton, who joined her husband as a world indoor champion in Portland in March.


In the fall of 2014, the Eatons met Butzner at his Albany home. Unknown to the athletes, it wasn’t just a chance for them to get to know him and make sure he was right for them.


Butzner, 46, was also taking time to make his final decision and evaluate the former University of Oregon standouts as potential clients.


He had told Marra and Doyle no several times. It had to be a perfect fit, Butzner thought to himself. With little time to spare, the Eatons didn’t want to have to teach someone what they wanted.


From their first sessions on Butzner’s table, the athletes knew they had found what they sought in a massage therapist and physiotherapist. He quickly diagnosed their areas of need without even asking questions.


“It’s a reassurance that this person knows what they’re doing and picked out my problem right away,” Theisen-Eaton said.


Added Marra: “That creates an edge of confidence.”


As older athletes more susceptible to injuries, the Eatons saw Butzner’s experience as a plus, the coach said.


Saturday, Eaton begins his chase of a second straight U.S. Olympic Trials decathlon title at Eugene’s Hayward Field, where four years ago he claimed the world record that he would break three years later at the world championships in Beijing.


Should he finish among the top three at the Trials as expected, the 28-year-old Eaton will go for a second consecutive Olympic title.


Theisen-Eaton, 27. from Canada, has already qualified for the Olympics but will attend the Canadian trials starting Thursday in Edmonton, Alberta, where she’s entered in the shot put, high jump and 200 meters.


She got the silver medal monkey off her back after winning the world indoor pentathlon in Portland in March. She was runner-up at the same meet in 2013 after taking silver in the heptathlon at the 2012 Olympics in London.


Theisen-Eaton had constant back soreness in 2014 that kept her from practicing the javelin, part of the seven-event heptathlon.


Butzner’s arrival and work with her has made the pain “manageable.”


“I’ve been able to throw the javelin at least once a week, which I never was able to do in the past,” she said. “It’s been a huge, huge deal for me and something that Don has really contributed to.”


Eaton, who grew up in La Pine and Bend, says Butzner has helped unlock his athletic potential. Eaton doesn’t receive as much treatment as his wife, but he appreciates Butzner’s efficient work and his knowledge of what needs to be adjusted without asking questions.


“He just knows,” Eaton said. “I think he just has a really good intuitive feel for the body and what each athlete needs.”


Butzner says he took the job because of the challenge of working with Theisen-Eaton.


In assessing her for the first time, he had a hard time believing she was ranked second in the world. He didn’t see it.


What he did see were areas where he thought he could make a difference.

Living the dream

Butzner’s current assignment is what he had in mind when he first ventured into massage therapy in 2000.


His work with some of the track and field world’s best started in 2004.


Butzner’s clients have included current 110-meter world record holder and Olympic champion Aries Merritt and former world champions Nickel Ashmeade, Perida Felicien and LaShawn Merritt. Justin Gatlin, currently one of the top American sprinters, is also among them.


He has worked with 32 athletes from the 2012 London Games.

Stress part of the game

Every day, Butzner feels the pressure to keep the athletes healthy.


There have been sleeplessness and middle-of-the-night texts from Marra, also up thinking about his job and helping the Eatons achieve their goals.


“It’s stressful, and when they’re hurt I take a personal responsibility to that,” Butzner said. “This event is an accident or an injury waiting to happen. Harry says that all the time.”


The Eatons do their best to remind Butzner that their injuries are not his fault.


But his mind still goes into hyper mode when one or both of the athletes are sidelined with ailments that seemingly come out of nowhere: What did I miss? How can I fix it? How do we get them back on track? We can’t miss practice.


“He’s totally stepped up to the plate, in my opinion, and he’s been definitely a foremost support for us,” Theisen-Eaton said. “He’s never made us doubt ourselves or doubt him or anything like that. That alone says a lot.”

Business on hold

Butzner’s Corvallis business, Willamette Therapeutic Massage, hasn’t completely shut down, but “it’s trickling,” he said.


With a full practice, it would often take months to see Butzner before he took his current assignment. He still finds time for a few appointments a week.


But most have been picked up by the four therapists he found to cover his clients’ needs. Several therapists have moved into Butzner’s building in his absence. He hears frequently from his clients that they’ll be glad when the Olympics are over.


When he does get into his clinic, Butzner realizes he’s happy there and just as passionate for his non-world champion clients as those who regularly bring home medals.


“I like what I do for the people, the everyday Joe that comes in and needs some help getting through their day or their workout or whatever their goals are.”


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