Q-C people hit pavement to fight heart disease

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By Katie Vaughn | Saturday, May 19, 2007 9:20 PM CDT | () comments

Clad in a gray sweatshirt, athletic shorts and running shoes, Beth Atkins looked indistinguishable from the crowd of walkers who filled downtown Davenport’s LeClaire Park to participate in the Quad-Cities Start! Heart Walk.

But Atkins had a special reason for joining the roughly 1,500 participants of the American Heart Association’s annual fundraising event. Her 10-year-old daughter Alison is a heart disease and stroke survivor.

Due to a double outlet in the right ventricle of her heart, Alison had her first open-heart surgery at 8 months of age, followed by a second at age 1 ½, her mother said.

Saturday marked Atkins’ fifth time participating in the race, which is held to raise awareness about and money for battling cardiovascular disease. Each year, she heads a team in her daughter’s honor and raises money to donate to the American Heart Association. One year, Atkins raised over $10,000; this time around, she anticipates a donation of $5,000.

Money raised at the walk benefits cardiovascular research and education in the Quad-Cities.

The race kicked off at 9 a.m. and wound through Davenport and Rock Island, with walkers crossing Government and Centennial bridges. Pep bands and cheerleaders were positioned along the course to keep enthusiasm high, said Cindy Hughes, a communications director for the American Heart Association.

Hughes said the race has been held in the Quad-Cities for 12 years, but that each year brings additional events. New this year was the American Heart Association’s recently launched movement called Start!, which encourages individuals and companies to make lifestyle changes to protect their hearts and live longer.

Eating healthfully, exercising, lowering stress and not smoking are ways to stave off heart disease and stroke, the No. 1 and No. 3 killers in America, Hughes said. People are getting the message about the dangers of these diseases, Hughes said, but that “they also need to be educated that it’s largely preventable, that they can take action.”

Also new this year were three “villages” set up in white tents in LeClaire Park. Offerings included health screenings, medical professionals on call to answer questions, a clinic on the health of walkers’ shoes, and raffles for pedometers, iPods, gym memberships and other prizes. Kids activities, such as face painting and a bounce house, also were provided, along with an Eat Street tent handing out healthy snacks.

Participants in the race showed their motivations for walking in a variety of ways. Survivors wore red caps while many groups wore coordinating T-shirts or signs specifying a survivor or victim of heart disease. Some wrote messages on a tribute board.

Sisters Pam Christenson and Diane Farmer wore pink T-shirts along with a group from Genesis Medical Center. They said they decided to participate in honor of their mother, who passed away from a massive heart attack 17 years ago.

“We thought it was a good idea, and that it would definitely help others,” Christenson said.

Atkins said she walks in the event for two reasons: To encourage people to make lifestyle changes to avoid the disease “and raise money to find a cure.”

Katie Vaughn can be contacted at

(563) 383-2282 or kvaughn@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at www.qctimes.com.