Well4Me 5K keeps Baptist colleague on the road to good health

Baptist OneCare analyst Mary Kearns’s weight loss journey began three and a half years ago when she changed her eating habits. When her doctor wanted to put her on cholesterol medication, she started eating a plant-based diet and occasionally included fish.

“It’s not a diet; it’s just the way I eat now,” she explained.

Last year, after losing 75 pounds, she took the next step in her wellness plan: exercise. Kearns volunteered to be a team captain for her department for the Walk Across America program. She also signed up for the Baptist Memphis Well4Me walking program and a couch to 5K training, which helped get her on a plan to reach a specific goal of participating in a race, like last year’s Well4Me 5K.

“The Well4Me 5K was fun and had a lot of energy,” said Kearns. “The Well4Me program gave me more confidence and got me looking at events, like races, as something like a goal.”

She has since participated in eight 5Ks, one half-marathon in Nashville in April 2013 and a triathlon in June 2013 in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Kearns also plans to participate in this year’s Well4Me 5K on Aug. 17, September’s MS150 cycling race and the 100-mile Bluff City Blues 100 Century Ride in October. She’s participating in an average of one race a month.

Exercise has helped her meet her wellness goals, and she is no longer taking her cholesterol medication.

“Little changes add up tremendously,” she said. “You can do way more than you think you can; you just have to start!”

The Baptist Memphis Well4Me 5K will be held Saturday, Aug. 17, at 8 a.m. at Shelby Farms Park, and it is open to everyone. The early bird registration fee is $10 per person, which includes a t-shirt, and the deadline is July 31. The fee is $15 for anyone who registers after Aug. 1. The registration form can be found on Baptist Memphis’ MyBaptist page. For more information, please e-mail Well4Me.Memphis@bmhcc.org. The race will be timed.

Find out how you can earn HumanaVitality points for this and any other race by calling 800-708-1105 or talking with your entity Wellness Champion.

Fill out registration form here:

http://www.baptistleader.org/files/Run Registration Form.pdf