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.
- 30 -
News for
the week of
March 27
– April 1
