Thousands take steps for heart health at 2015 Heart Walk

Balloons released into the air signaled the start of the Northwest Arkansas 2015 Heart Walk on Saturday (April 11) at Arvest Ballpark. More than 10,000 people, along with many of their four-legged friends, walked the one-mile course, or participated in the 5K Fun Run to benefit the American Heart Association.

“We hold the walk to raise money and awareness for cardiovascular disease and stroke,” said Rebecca Buerkle, communications director for the American Heart Association (AHA). “These funds really help to move things forward to fund research projects and to fund advocacy efforts.”

According to the AHA website, heart defects are the number one birth defect of children born in the United States. Heart disease and stroke cause one in three deaths in the general population. The NWA Heart Association website says that nearly 29% of the deaths in this area each year are attributed to cardiovascular disease and stroke.

“Everyone has been affected by heart disease or stroke somehow, at some point in their life – whether it’s a loved one, a friend, or a co-worker,” Buerkle said. 

But, she said, change is happening in the fight against heart disease.

“In December, stroke went from the number four cause of death to the number five.”

In addition to raising money, event organizers hoped that the walk will put attention on physical activity and will help people continue to be active.

“We hope this is the first step to starting a routine, or a key step in continuing one,” Buerkle said. “Even as little as 30 minutes of physical activity a day has been proven to have great effects on your heart health.”

Race organizers projected that $1.2 million will be raised this year through the walk, with much of that coming from corporate teams. The top five fundraising teams for the event were: Team Mahoney; Sam’s Club – Dawn Von Bechman; Johnson & Johnson – Lauren Deleon; the Independent Walkers and Rouse’s BraveHearts. The success of the NWA Heart Walk makes it one of the top 25 in the entire nation, and the nation has more than 400 walks, Buerkle said.

“Other walks (around the country) look at the Northwest Arkansas walk as kind of a model and what to try to emulate in their own areas.”

Pre-race activities on Saturday included a VIP breakfast and a program emceed by Michael Kaufman with KIX 104 and Amy Slanchik of 5NEWS. Special tribute was paid to Garrett Uekman, an Arkansas Razorback football player who died of heart disease in 2011.

Other activities included a step show performance by the ladies of Alpha Kappa Alpha and a pre-walk talk by Sportacus from the children’s television program, “Lazy Town.” Sportacus encouraged the crowd to be healthy and got everyone energized with a warm up before the walk. After the walk, attendees stood in line to receive free gifts from area Wal-Mart vendors, enjoyed a pet zone with their dogs and could participate in hands-only CPR training on the baseball field. The first 300 people to do the training received a free CPR kit.

Matt Kistler of Walmart U.S. and Steven Williams of Pepsico were co-chairs for the event. Subway restaurants is the national presenting sponsor of the AHA Heart Walk. The Northwest Arkansas Heart Walk is locally sponsored by Kraft, Pepsico and Walmart. Tyson was the “day of event” sponsor. The City Wire was one of several media sponsors.