The Long Island Start! Heart Walks support a groundbreaking national American Heart Association movement to get America walking to live longer, heart-healthy lives. American Heart Association Long Island Start! Heart Walks will take place this October in two locations on Long Island. The first event, the Nassau County Start! Heart Walk will be held at Nassau Community College in Garden City on Sunday, Oct. 4. The Suffolk County Start! Heart Walk will be held at Stony Brook University on Sunday, Oct. 25. For both events, registration and health fairs begin at 8:30 a.m. The official Walk start time is 10 a.m.
The Nassau County event will be chaired by Arthur Gianelli, president and CEO of Nassau Health Care Corporation. The event will feature live music and a new redesigned Kid Zone featuring the first ever Heartlympics. The Suffolk County event will be chaired by Steven Strongwater, M.D., CEO of Stony Brook University Medical Center. The Suffolk event will feature the first ever Paws for a Cause Start! Dog Walk.
Did you know that more than 136 million Americans are overweight or obese? Did you know that the average person can gain two hours of life expectancy for each hour of regular exercise? Walking has the lowest dropout rate of any physical activity. Physically active people save $500 a year in healthcare costs. The Long Island Start! Heart Walk is an opportunity for people to improve their health by walking, while simultaneously raising funds to help fight heart disease and stroke. Every element of the Long Island Start! Heart Walk is designed to create a stronger community among participants; instill passion for reducing disability and death from cardiovascular diseases and stroke; and generate excitement for a new or renewed commitment to heart-healthy living.
Presented nationally by Subway, Healthy Choice and AstraZeneca, and sponsored locally by Winthrop University Hospital, thousands of people from across Long Island are expected to step out this year for the Long Island Start! Heart Walks. Join survivors of heart diseases and stroke, as well as families, friends, neighbors and company teams from across Long Island to help fight Long Island’s No. 1 and No. 3 killers – heart disease and stroke – to live longer, heart-healthy lives.
Make walking a part of your daily routine. To learn more about the Start! movement or register today for the Long Island Start! Heart Walks, call the American Heart Association office at (516) 777-8447 or visit www.longislandheartwalk.org. For information about the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women, Power To End Stroke and The Alliance for a Healthier Generation movements, contact 516-777-8447 or visit www.ameicanheart.org.
