Engage Your Friends and Family in their Overall Health

The CDI Back In Shape event is a great opportunity to gather your friends and family for a morning of healthy activities and fun-filled events. The event includes activities suited for people of all ages and ability levels. From walking, to jogging, to running, and playing at Kids’ Central; everyone from junior to grandma will find something at the CDI Back In Shape event.

Exercising with family and friends can provide motivation and inspiration to keep each other going – and everyone knows someone who is trying to get in shape. Invite them to join you. With the nutritious post-race buffet, health screenings, sports massages, and natural health education booths; there isn’t a friendlier race to bring your friends to.

Those registered for either the walk or the run have the option of donating and collecting pledges for the Patrick Holmes Memorial Scholarship Fund, which will provide scholarships for Northwestern students interested in pursuing research as a career path; Cornerstone, an organization working to prevent domestic abuse; and VEAP, an organization that meets the multiple issues of a household in crisis. Food donations for VEAP will also be accepted.

If you would like to make a pledge to one of the beneficiary organizations, print out the pledge form page at the Back In Shape Web Site.         

The annual CDI Back In Shape event includes the CDI Back In Shape 5k Run, the Patrick Holmes Memorial Walk, and the Richfield Bloomington Credit Union Kids’ Runs. Past participants rave about the event as it continues to be one of the most luxurious races in the state. The day features a post-race buffet that earns rave reviews each year; free health screenings and sports massages; indoor restrooms; open swimming in the University’s pool before and after the event; and access to locker rooms and showers. More than $7,000 in cash prizes will be awarded to the top overall and age-group finishers, and many other raffle prizes will be awarded throughout the event, including: hotel stays, travel vouchers, gift certificates, and more.

Northwestern Honors the Memory of an Employee Through the Back In Shape Event

Last year, the 2008 CDI Back In Shape event renamed the walk to honor the memory of Patrick Holmes, an exercise therapist at Northwestern Health Sciences University who died in the I-35W bridge collapse. The Patrick Holmes Memorial Walk is now held annually in conjunction with the CDI Back In Shape Run. This year, the event is scheduled for June 13, 2009.

As an employee at Northwestern’s Wolfe-Harris Center for Clinical Studies since 2001, Holmes felt strongly about exercise and moving others toward better health. In 2003, he was named Rehabilitation Services Coordinator and provided therapy of rehabilitative, self-care and home exercise components of federally funded clinical trials. Through his work, Holmes changed the lives of countless patients, motivating them to exercise and be active to maintain good health. With his caring and compassionate approach, and a great sense of humor, he was able to coach and motivate people through their pain, towards better lives.

The CDI Back In Shape Event Raises Monetary and Food Donations for VEAP

For the fifth consecutive year, Northwestern Health Sciences University’s CDI Back In Shape event is supporting Volunteers Enlisted to Assist People (VEAP), a Bloomington organization that provides support to local community members in need. The CDI Back In Shape Run and Patrick Holmes Memorial Walk are scheduled for June 13, 2009.

VEAP serves the communities of Bloomington, Edina, Richfield, and South Minneapolis, Minn., in an attempt to help low-income people meet their basic needs and find stability. VEAP provides transportation assistance, social and financial support, food pantry assistance, and seasonal programs.

Although poverty is a world-wide problem, there are people in our own communities that are suffering as well. According to VEAP, in recent years poverty levels in the suburbs have actually surpassed those in the cities. The organization believes that helping neighbors strengthens the community, and has been operating under this principle for 35 years.

In addition to pledging, Back In Shape participants and guests are welcome to bring non-perishable food items for VEAP, and will receive one raffle ticket entry into a drawing for a $500 travel voucher. Food donations will be accepted on the day of the race, as well as the days leading up to the race.

For more information about VEAP, visit VEAP online.                             

Support Community Members in Need: The CDI Back In Shape Event Raises Money for Cornerstone

Every year, Northwestern Health Sciences University provides local community agencies the opportunity to raise money for their organization by participating in the Back In Shape 5k Run and Patrick Holmes Memorial Walk. This year, Cornerstone, an organization working to prevent domestic abuse, is participating as a beneficiary organization for the first time. The Back In Shape Run and Patrick Holmes Memorial Walk are scheduled for June 13, 2009.

Cornerstone supports the communities of Bloomington, Edina, Eden Prairie, St. Louis Park, and Richfield in south Hennepin County, Minnesota. They provide people in all walks of life with safe housing, education, and support in an effort to build self-reliance and revive the human spirit, according to Courtney Poja, development coordinator at Cornerstone.

Domestic violence affects not only the victim and the abuser, but also those who witness the abuse. Unfortunately, children learn from what they experience, often leading to a generational cycle of abuse.

“It is our goal to work towards ending this generational cycle of violence and abuse by reaching out to these young children early in the learning cycle and teaching them appropriate, healthy relationship skills,” says Poja

For more information about Cornerstone, visit Cornerstone online.

Hometown Heros Win 2008 Back In Shape Run

Mathew Gabrielson, of Minneapolis, Minn., was the top finisher in Northwestern Health Sciences University’s Back in Shape Run in June 2008. Finishing in 14:23, Gabrielson won $1,500 — part of the largest prize purse in the state of Minnesota. The top-finishing female was Amy Lyons, of Mounds View, Minn., who also won $1,500. She finished in an impressive 17:19. Both Gabrielson and Lyons won $1,000 each for being the top male and female finishers and $500 each for being the top American male and female finishers.

A total of 271 people registered for the Back in Shape Run, 31 participated in the walk and 56 children took part in the kids’ 1/4-mile and 1/2-mile races. Additionally, a mascot race was held featuring Northwestern’s mascot, Vinnie the Vertebrate amongst various other local mascots.

The event featured a difficult course that attracted runners from around the country, including: Kansas, Nebraska, Ohio, Kentucky, and Florida. Additionally, participants had the opportunity to raise pledges for Volunteers Enlisted to Assist People, an organization dedicated to providing assistance to low-income people in Bloomington, Richfield and South Minneapolis; and the Patrick Holmes Memorial Scholarship Fund, a scholarship that supports Northwestern students interested in pursuing research as a career path. The scholarship was created to honor former Northwestern employee Patrick Holmes, who died in August 2007 in the collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis.

Among the perks offered to participants were an outlandish post-race buffet, free massages, access to indoor bathrooms, free use of the University’s heated pool, and a variety of prizes, including airline tickets, theater tickets, and gift certificates. Additionally, the race offered the state’s largest prize purse for a 5K — $6,550. The purse included a $1,000 cash prize for the top male and top female finishers; a $500 cash prize for the top finishing male and female Americans; a $500 cash prize for the race’s second-place male and female runners; a $300 cash prize for the race’s third-place male and female runners; a $200 cash prize for the race’s fourth-place male and female runners; a $100 cash prize for the race’s fifth-place male and female runner; $25 Visa gift cards for the first-place male and female finishers in each of 15 age categories; and $10 Visa gift cards to the second- and third-place male and female finishers in each of 15 age categories. Additionally, all 22 first-time runners received a medal. Setting a course record was worth a $250 bonus.