Our History
More Heart Than Scars foundation’s mission is a quest for faith, love, hope, and heart, in order to transcend visible and invisible scars, by overcoming obstacles together, encouraging others to live boldly.
More Heart Than Scars is more than a mantra. It’s a battle cry. It’s a bar set high.
Because men and women can declare, “I have more heart than scars,” they are no longer victims of the marks they bear.
At the core of the More Heart Than Scars (MHTS) foundation is a philosophy for how to overcome traumas, diseases and loss. In practice, they take adaptive athletes in wheelchairs and others with what they call “invisible” scars, like PTSD, Suicide Attempts, Depression, etc., through obstacle courses for the world to see, that as a team, they can be triumphant.
Two events spurred the birth of More Heart Than Scars.
The first was when Co-Founder, Zack Paben met a Green Beret named Billy, who lost his leg in Afghanistan. After meeting, Zack and Billy decided to form a team to complete a Tough Mudder, joining up under the name ‘Nubs and Stubs’. Zack was nervous about his first Tough Mudder because his mountain guide days were long behind him. Wendy Paben-Gellman, the other co-founder, was once a champion basketball player, but a knee injury and motherhood had changed her reality. And Billy’s scars were still healing. But they decided together that doing the race would kickstart their athletic adventures back up again. It did.
The second event was the Boston Marathon bombing. Zack wanted the survivors to know that this tragedy did not have to define them or discourage their athletic pursuits. Team ‘Nubs and Stubs’ became “More Heart Than Scars,” with the intention of reaching out to these survivors. Zackary and Wendy connected with a little boy named Tommy with Cerebral Palsy who wanted to race. When Tommy successfully crossed the finish line, a photo of him overcoming an obstacle with MHTS touched the hearts of thousands and confirmed Zackary’s call to action. Obstacle Course Races (OCRs) were just gaining momentum in the United States and as they grew in popularity, and so did More Heart Than Scars.
Zack and Wendy put together teams to assist adaptive athletes with challenges to compete in OCRs. Their work inspired the Spartan CEO Joe DeSena to compete in a race in a wheelchair to understand the movement.
MHTS has helped athletes compete in more than 300 Races/Events. They’ve developed a sophisticated racing system, composed of volunteers and athletes, who all have a specific role in getting across the finish line as a team. Since its inception, MHTS has empowered athletes who have visible scars such as amputations, spinal cord injuries and Cerebral Palsy. The organization also honors and supports invisible scars like trauma, loss, mental health issues, and learning differences. If you’ve overcome a challenge in your life, and you can confidently say, “I have more heart than scars,” then you are a part of the More Heart Than Scars family.
Above all, More Heart Than Scars can be defined by their “Knight’s Pledge,” when team members are “knighted” for exceptional service. They are asked:
Do you have more faith than fear?
Do you have more love than hate?
Do you have more hope than despair?
Do you have more heart than scars?
To which, time and again, they answer without hesitation: YES.
