by Kirsten Brown

While attending last year’s 5K Medicine Run, second-year students Amy Miyoshi and Katie Pestak wondered if the race couldn’t be tweaked a little … perhaps made more dynamic.

From that musing, a race once limited to athletes has blossomed into a four-tiered event including people of all ages and all health backgrounds. The newly improved event, headed by coordinators Pestak and Miyoshi, is now dubbed the “5K Medicine Run/Walk & Health Fair.” It will debut Saturday, April 8, at 7 a.m., with participants and well wishers gathering between the Convocation Center and Grosvenor Hall on Ohio University’s campus, near Richland Avenue.

The annual race had too long been exclusively for athletes since its inception in the 1980s, coordinator Miyoshi says.

“We thought it could be so much better,” Miyoshi says. “We wanted to target more than just the athletic population, and we wanted to see more people active and involved, especially from community. We also wanted to get the medical school more involved with the community as well, so that everyone felt a reason to come out, and no one was excluded.”

Now, in addition to the 5K Run, there will also be a 5K walk, a one-mile walk, a children’s obstacle course and a health fair. And so far almost 200 people have signed up to participate.

Both the race and the walk will begin and end at Grosvenor, with the race beginning at 8 a.m. and the 5k walk and one-mile walk starting at 8:10 and 8:15 a.m., respectively. The obstacle course will be set up in the University Medical Associates parking lot and the health fair takes place in the lot along the softball field.

All proceeds will go to Community Service Programs’ (CSP) Free Clinic. The clinic provides primary care to the area’s underserved and uninsured in Appalachian Ohio.

“The money we’re raising through registration will pay for needed services and necessities that the Free Clinic can provide for those in need,” Miyoshi says.

The event also has a theme: “Let’s Get Active.”

“This theme is to promote healthy lifestyles, nutrition and exercise,” Miyoshi explains. “As part of that, we’re doing a child-obstacle course to show children how they can exercise and have fun at the same time.”

The kids’ events, stretching from 9 a.m. to noon, will also include contests like running through tires and “hula-hooping.”

“And since we’re having this at the medical school, we’ll have a race where kids see who can put on a whole doctor’s outfit the fastest,” Miyoshi added. “We want to challenge kids of every age.”

Kids will get complimentary gifts for participating, while adult participants will vie for heftier awards, she says. These include trophies for the winning male and female runners, with ribbons and awards for different age groups.

At the health fair, which also begins at 9 a.m., the Free Clinic will administer screenings for blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose and others, Miyoshi says.

“These will all be free,” she says, “so they will be available for everyone. We really want people from the Athens community to come out and get checked.”

Aside from the screenings, the fair will consist of several booths directed at a variety of health concerns. The representatives at each booth aim to build awareness about health-related issues, which range from diabetes prevention to arthritis to sports injuries to nutrition. Some booths will also check people for signs of more problematic concerns, such as cancer.

“This is to educate people about what to get screened for and how to look out for different kinds of cancer,” she says. “Testicular cancer, prostrate cancer in men, breast cancer and cervical cancer in women — these are all prevalent in this area.”

Health fair coordinators are planning for a wide spectrum of ages at the April 7 event; there also will be booths that focus on kid issues such as germs, the importance of washing hands and poison control for parents and kids, Miyoshi says. Meanwhile, the Geriatric Club will also have booths available, where representatives will advise listeners on existing health-service programs for the elderly.

Even PepsiCo, the makers of Pepsi, will make an appearance, says Miyoshi.

“They will have their flavored waters to show you don’t have to drink carbonated beverages all the time,” she says.

With the exception of the free health fair, advance entry fees are $13 for adults, $8 for seniors over 55, and $5 for children under 12. Adults who register the Saturday of the race will pay $15. Interested participants can find more information about registering on the Medicine Run’s Web site (http://www.oucom.ohiou.edu/studentgov/medrun/). Also, anyone can register for the race until the day of the event; however, they will not be guaranteed a free T-shirt unless they registered before March 14, as T-shirts will likely run out before April 7.

Every element of the Saturday festivities has been dedicated to improving health, through exercise, raising awareness and collecting funds for the Free Clinic.

“Promoting healthy lifestyles is our main goal,” Miyoshi says.