Indianapolis, August 15, 2011 -- Wishard Foundation will hold the inaugural Eskenazi Health Run/Walk and Community Health Fair on Sept. 10, 2011, at Wishard Memorial Hospital. The event will encourage community health through preventive care and healthful diet and lifestyle choices and promote awareness of the new Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Hospital and Eskenazi Health campus opening December 2013.
"We are excited to share with the community this event to learn more about the new hospital, to take part in a health fair offering valuable screenings and information at no cost and to exercise and compete on an invigorating run/walk course through downtown," said Ernest Vargo II, CFRE, president and CEO of Wishard Foundation. "The race will be a great opportunity for runners to tune-up for upcoming competitions while also providing a fun exercise experience."
The event will run from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m., beginning with an opening ceremony at 7:15 a.m. followed by race starts at 7:30 a.m., 7:40 a.m. and 8 a.m. The community health fair will run from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. There is no cost to participate in the health fair, while race sign-up costs range from $5 to $25.
All three running events will start and end at the Ott Building of Wishard Health Services. Event participants will venture through downtown Indianapolis, experiencing the urban landscape’s diverse vistas, from the pristine IUPUI campus and the scenic White River for the short course to Monument Circle, City market and the Indiana War Memorial along the 10K. Runners start near the historic facade of Wishard and end with a straightaway along Fall Creek in the shadow of the new hospital’s rising construction.
"We at Wishard have long recognized the benefits of exercise and encouraged healthy lifestyles through our community health fairs and other programs and initiatives," said Dr. Lisa Harris, CEO and medical director, Wishard Health Services. "This will be a great event to promote the health of the community as well as fun, healthy competition and recognition of the new hospital."
Interested participants can visit Wishard.edu/runwalk to learn more, view course maps and find a link to register for the competitions. No registration is required to take part in the health fair, which is free and open to the public.
The Wishard Foundation is raising philanthropic support for the project in addition to current Wishard programs. To learn more about the Foundation, please visit www.WishardFoundation.org.  For more information about the construction project, visit www.EskenaziHealth.org.