Run for Southlake cooking up something fresh this month

April is here and the countdown to the 2021 Nature's Emporium Run for Southlake is on!

Due to present health restrictions, this will be the second year in a row where the popular fundraiser for Southlake Regional Health Centre has had to take place in the virtual realm, but this year's run will be just a little bit different from the first virtual event last year: The Run will be divided into four challenges designed to help you not only get moving but get – and stay – healthy.

Running from April 12 through May 9, the four-week challenge is divided into four with the first week dedicated to “Eat Well with Southlake”, followed by “Make it a Habit”, “Build Your Endurance”, and “Go the Distance.”

Eat Well with Southlake is focused on nutrition. Title sponsor Nature's Emporium will provide lessons about foods that fuel you as you set your own nutritional goals for the week.

“When we were looking at this year's event, a lot of what we were looking at has to do with how do we make a virtual event something different and completely accessible,” says Melanie Osmond, Event Specialist for the Southlake Regional Health Centre Foundation. “One thing we were looking at with the run is typically…something one has to train for and prep for, so how do we build that prep into what they are already doing?

“The first week focuses on nutrition, which is really the backbone of a healthy lifestyle and any training that anyone does. They start with having a healthy meal and being energized. Our title sponsor, Nature's Emporium, is helping out that week with a cooking class that participants can sign up for, and people are setting goals as to how many healthy meals they want to accomplish that week, and healthy is whatever makes sense to them.”

Classes, she adds, will be recorded and made available to all registered participants should the timing of the live sessions not make sense for them. Nature's Emporium will also provide health and wellness tips that will be included in weekly emails to registrants.

“We understand nutrition is something that is very personal for everyone,” she adds. “We didn't want to bring in someone to talk about how to get the right nutrients for running a marathon because that is not what everyone's goal is. We're mindful of the fact the nutrition aspect is very much a personal journey.”

There is still time to join the Nature's Emporium Run for Southlake Virtual Challenge.

Registration will be accepted into the second week of the Challenge.

By Tuesday, March 30, nearly $36,000 had been pledged towards the Run's $175,000 goal.

“The Run is flexible and you can do it your own way, so we're really encouraging people to still join us,” says Aimee Houston, Director of Marketing and Communications for the Southlake Regional Health Centre Foundation. “There are still great opportunities for people to join us and support their local hospital. Now more than ever we need that support. The pandemic has impacted all of us in different ways and so many of us will probably, unfortunately, be able to access Southlake in some way, shape or form… maybe they haven't had before because of the pandemic. Our growing community has needs and it is a fun event.”

For more, visit runforsouthlake.ca.

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter