MADERA - Central Valley residents are invited to participate in the American Heart Association’s 2017 Central Valley Heart & Stroke Walk and Lawyers Have Heart Run. Marking its 25th anniversary, the annual “Heart Walk” includes a 5k run and 2-mile walk, plus Kids’ Fun Run. The event is set for Saturday, October 21 at Tesoro Viejo, an upcoming master planned community located at Highway 41 and Road 204, just 10 minutes north of River Park Shopping Center.
Presented by Tesoro Viejo, the annual Heart & Stroke Walk is the largest local event for the association and has a goal of exceeding the $235,851 raised at last year’s event, the highest tally to date. All proceeds will go toward the American Heart Association’s overall goal of funding research to find better ways to treat and prevent cardiovascular diseases and stroke while providing educational health resources to the local region.
“With this, the 25th anniversary of the Heart Walk in the Valley, we're excited to celebrate this milestone by making this year’s event the biggest and most successful one yet,” said Todd Suntrapak, president & CEO of Valley Children’s Healthcare and the 2017 Heart Walk chair. “We’re encouraging everyone to come out and take steps to being Healthy For Good. It’s a great time to engage your family, friends and coworkers in a cause that will improve the health of our local community.”
“We are thrilled to host again this year the Heart Walk at Tesoro Viejo, where participants can take in the scenery of the vineyards, orchards and gorges along with the beautiful backdrop of Little Table Mountain, and hope to have another record breaking year,” said Karen McCaffrey, vice president of Tesoro Viejo Development. “Tesoro Viejo has been thoughtfully planned as a healthy, sustainable community where residents can enjoy an enhanced quality of life focusing on health, wellness and vitality. As this event promotes physical activity and heart-healthy living, we are proud and excited to host it for the next three years.”
The event is open to the public with families, companies and people of all ages encouraged to attend. Everyone is invited to participate in the non-competitive 2-mile Heart & Stroke Walk that starts at 9:30 am. While still hosted in the same beautiful location, walkers will follow a new course this year that will wind through the trails and vineyards. Over 75 local businesses have already signed up and will be represented with teams of employees bringing along friends and family members. Those not on a company team are invited to form community teams to help raise funds and encourage friends and family to participate.
Heart disease and stroke survivors will receive special survivor caps to distinguish them from the rest of the pack. Participants can walk or run and there is no registration fee for the walk. Walkers who raise $100 or more will receive the official 2017 Heart Walk t-shirt.
The Lawyers Have Heart Run kicks off at 8:00 am and is a timed 5K event on a moderate trail. The $40 registration fee benefits the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association, and all runners will receive an official Heart Run t-shirt. Participants will have their run timed, and the top male and female runners will be awarded prizes.
Everyone is invited to stick around and peruse the health expo where they will find booths on wellness, healthy snack samples, a kid’s zone with fun activities and more.
According to the American Heart Association, walking is the simplest positive change individuals can make to effectively improve their heart health because it’s free, easy and has the lowest dropout rate of any exercise. Research has shown walking is the single most effective form of exercise to achieve heart health. The benefits of walking and moderate physical activity for as little as 30 minutes each day can help reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke - the number 1 and number 5 killers of Americans, respectively.
