Community members promote fitness

Published 9:55 am Friday, June 26, 2015

The “O” Foundation is sponsoring a 5K walk that seeks to get Brookhaven residents up and outdoors during the summer.

The Race to Fitness 5K walk will take place Saturday, June 27, at 8 a.m.

Brookhaven Police Chief Bobby Bell said participants will start at Bicentennial Park proceeding south of North Second Street to Minnesota Street to Washington Street through to Beauregard Street to Doctor Martin Luther King Drive then north back up Main Street to Bicentennial Park. (double-check on a map to make sure our description makes sense)

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There is no registration fee for the walk but donations are accepted. There will also be prizes and raffles.

For more information, contact 601-320-0196. To register for the walk, visit www.601racetofitness.com.

“We are looking for a big crowd to help up rid ourselves of all this obesity in our county,” Rose Powell, who runs “O” Foundation, said.

She said the foundation wanted to shift its focus to the family. From this focus the idea for a series of events encouraging people to get out and get active. Following Saturday’s event the foundation has an event at Lake Lincoln in July and a nighttime GloWalk in August.

“We have such a high rate of obesity in our county and community,” Sen. Sally Doty, who is a member of the “O” Foundation, said. “This is something easy we can all do. You don’t need much special equipment except some shoes.”

“We should be doing more of these types of events,” Doty said.

“I thought it was a great idea for people of all ages, for myself and everybody else to get in some kind of shape and to get kids used to it,” Bell said.

Elijah Corley is a member of the “O” Foundation and said everyone has been responding well to his inquiries to sponsor the walk. For this series of walks, Corley has procured sponsorships from Farm Bureau, Walgreens and Hibbet Sports.