Heartland Half Marathon Committee and D.C. Multisport donate nearly $14,000 to heart center

D.C. Multisport and members of the Heartland Half Marathon and 5K Committee presented the Phillip R. Dawkins Heart and Vascular Center with a check for $13,971 on Wednesday.

The money was raised from entry fees from the 700 plus participants in the race’s inaugural event. Kevin Manley, director of Dubois County Tourism and secretary for D.C. Multisport, stated he was surprised by the success experienced with the first year of the event and could barely keep from revealing plans for next year’s event.

Martie Bickwermert, director of cardiopulmonary services at Memorial Hospital, was taken aback by the size of the endowment to the group. “Oh my gosh,” she said, “This far exceeds what my expectation would have ever been.”

Bickwermert stated the money could potentially be used for complimentary or alternative therapy services. “In terms of cardiac, we typically use mediation and exercise,” she explained, “but we are looking at whether we should pull in stress relaxation techniques like yoga and massage. Many of our people don’t have opportunities to do those things. If we can teach them, maybe we can help them with those aspects.”

Another area the money could be used is preventative measures with children. “Adam (Dr. Dawkins) is very focused on prevention,” Bickwermert said. “We will have to look into how we could possibly work with the schools.”

The Heartland Half Marathon was created and planned by a dedicated group of runners from the area with assistance from D.C. Multisport. D.C. Multisport’s goals are to increase sport and fitness related events in Dubois County. At the Wednesday event they revealed that a “kiddie triathlon” in Huntingburg and a two-day, 100-mile bike ride are two ideas for events that are currently being explored.