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Health & Fitness

4th Annual Evelyn Knapp "Run to Remember"

Please join us on November 24th as we celebrate our 4th Annual Evelyn Knapp "Run to Remember" and 2nd Annual Wellness Walk at Sunken Meadow State Park.  There is something 'active' for your whole family, a kid's fun run, boardwalk 'walk', and challenging trail run.  The proceeds go directly to the Strength for Life programs of providing FREE exercise classes and wellness retreats to cancer patients/survivors on Long Island.

As you may know, Strength for Life was formed in memory of Evelyn Knapp, an exercise physiologist who lost her battle with breast cancer in 2005. During treatment she experienced first hand the benefits of exercise in relieving many of the side effects of the treatment.  She was often heard saying "exercise gave her a sense of control in a situation that was out of control." At that time the protocol for cancer patients was "bed rest is best." It was not until 2010 that the American College of Sports Medicine changed their guidelines to "AVOID INACTIVITY".  Since 2010, then have been numerous studies on the benefits of exercise in treatment and recovery.

The initial studies were on the benefits of aerobic (cardio) exercise, now there are more on resistance training and flexibility.  Strength for Life was organized in 2007 to share Evelyn's vision to educate cancer patients on the vast benefits of adding exercise into their treatment plan. Strength for Life began offering strength training classes and wanted them to be accessible to many so - we decided to seek donated space to hold a group class and travel to an area nearer the clients wanting to participate. In 2009 we began offering wellness retreats to introduce various modalites of exercise to be added to the treatment plan - such as yoga and tai chi, along with an introduction by Doctors of Osteopathic and Naturopathic Medicine on complementary therapies.  The wellness retreats are still evolving, we have had art therapy, writing therapy, meditation and reiki and remain open to offer other therapies and nutrition information.

Please visit our website at www.strengthforlifeNY.org for more information on the class locations and retreats.

Strength for Life relies on our fundraising efforts to afford these programs at no cost to survivors.  The upcoming run is our favorite event because it is in Evelyn's name...she was an avid runner and Sunken Meadow was her favorite course.

There are many ways to help us help others, joining us for this event is one, have a race day tee shirt dedication ($25) for a loved one or simply donate through our website.  Any amount helps.

For more information call 631-685-6513

Our race day shirts and Evelyn's motto "Make today a great one!"


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