The American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery Foundation and the Obesity Action Coalition partnered to create a walk to raise funds for obesity research and education. The second annual Ark-La-Tex Walk from Obesity was held at Betty Virginia Park in Shreveport, LA on Saturday, October 20th.
“We want to build a community of people first and expand the view of obesity,” sponsoring physican George Merriman said. “We want it to be a fundraising walk, but we also want it to be a place for information if they are struggling with obesity themselves.”
Seventy similar walks are held across the nation to fight obesity by the sponsoring organizations. The Ark-La-Tex walk anticipated an even better participant rate this year than last year.
“We started the walk last year and we did well,” said walk chairperson Katy Merriman. “We were awarded sixth-best walk out of 72 cities and we raised more than $24,000 in sponsorship or donations. We had more than 200 people involved and this year we would like to see more.”
Source: The Shreveport Times
The Hotter ‘N Hell Hundred (HHH) is one of the largest cycling events in the USA. Held in Wichita Falls, TX in August each year, the main event is the 100 mile cycling race. Riders can also choose the 25 mile, 50 mile, or 100 K course or the off-road bicycle race. This year the event drew 11,205 riders and 23 of those were members of “Race for Grace,” the first ever charity cycling team allowed to participate in HHH. Read more… »
Tim Borland is running multiple marathons during a 63-city A-T CureTour. Boreland began running on Monday, September 3rd in California at Disneyland. He will complete his marathons with the New York City Marathon in New York, NY on Tuesday, November 4th. Boreland hopes to raise $2 million dollars for the A-T Children’s Project.
In every city Borland visits, he stops at the home of a child with A-T. A-T is ataxia-telangiectasia, a rare genetic disease in children. A-T causes severe muscle control due to brain cell death.
“Everybody thinks it’s crazy,” Borland said. “And it is. I would definitely never undertake something like this … for fun or to try to prove something. It’s all about bringing hope to families all around the country.”
About one in every 40,000 children in the U.S.A. is born with A-T. Approximately 500 children in this country have the disease. There is no cure, or ability to delay the progression of the disease.
Source: dailypress.com
Dr. Alan Brock, founder of the Austin, Texas based non-profit Fit2Endure completed an amazing 40-day, 896-mile run this past summer. He did this to raise funds and bring awareness to the national child obesity epidemic.
His trek began in Austin, TX on July 11th. He ran across the state of Texas going northwest through Abilene, Lubbock, Amarillo and many small towns in between. A short leg through the Oklahoma panhandle and he was into Colorado. As if running across the 2nd largest state in the union wasn’t enough, he ended his amazing journey by completing the Pike’s Peak Marathon in Denver on August 19.
All along the way Brock was followed by a support crew, was cheered on by spectators and even found time for some TV interviews and a daily blog.
Alan Brock is not a man to stop either! Now he’s getting ready for a 100 mile trail run in Bandera, Tx in November. You can read more about his 896 run and his current training on his Summit40 Blog.
Get Ready, Get Set, Get Fit 5K Run/1K Walk was held on Sunday, September 16th at Towson University in Towson, Maryland . The race was also sponsored by the Baltimore County Department of Aging and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield.
“The run is a part of a collaboration with Baltimore County Department of Aging to promote fitness among older people,” Charlotte Exner, dean of the college of health professions, said.
Source: The Towerlight
Towson University students studying at the College of Health Professions have been involved in the event, working with senior fitness centers in the area. Approximately 400 to 500 people were expected to participate in the event.
Students and individuals over 60 paid a participation fee of $10 for the event. Everyone else paid $15. The event was also supported by sponsorship, and they had raised more than $25,000 through corporate sponsorship.
Funds raised from the event will help benefit six senior centers in the Baltimore County. There is going to be a seventh center by the end of the month, and an eighth by the end of the year.
Source: The Towerlight
