Hilo Heart Walk set for Late March

Hilo Heart Walk 2020 will help Big Island residents get to know their blood pressure numbers. PC: American Heart Association

The American Heart Association is holding its 2020 Hilo Heart Walk later this month.

The Hilo Heart Walk will take place on March 28 at Hilo Bayfront Park. Check-in and a health fair begin at 7:00 a.m. and the Walk kicks off at 8 a.m. The health fair and entertainment will run from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and include free “hands-only” CPR lessons, blood pressure screenings and a keiki fun fair.

This year’s Heart Walk co-chairs are Jason Fujimoto, president and CEO of HPM Building Supply, and Randy Kurohara, project director of Community First’s Know Your Numbers campaign, with the goal of educating the community about the risk associated with high blood pressure, an AHA press release said.

“One of the reasons I was interested in serving as co-chair of the Hilo Heart Walk was the common goal that the American Heart Association has with the Know Your Numbers project,” Kurohara explained. “High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a leading risk factor for heart disease and stroke. I’m excited that the Association is going to offer free hypertension screenings at the Heart Walk to allow the companies and their employees who are participating in the Know Your Numbers project to get their numbers checked and to see how they are progressing in controlling their blood pressure.”

To help support those efforts, Heart Walk participants are being encouraged to not only raise funds for the American Heart Association but to also bring a healthy food donation to the event to benefit clients of the Hawai‘i Food Basket. An advocacy table at the Walk will offer awareness information about e-cigarettes and opportunities for participants to become advocates to help support health policies to address the tobacco industry’s targeting of Hawai‘i Island youth with flavored tobacco products.

The event is designed to bring families and friends together to learn, share and practice lifestyle habits that will lead to healthier, longer lives free of heart disease and stroke, the release said. Participants are encouraged to raise money to support the AHA’s work to end heart disease and stroke and improve Big Island residents’ health. Strollers and leashed pets are welcomed on the Walk route.

To accommodate Walk participants both lanes of State Highway 19 will be closed along Bayfront from Pauahi St. to Kaipalaoa Landing Lighthouse from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Saturday. The entrance to Bayfront Highway will be closed at Pauahi. All Hāmakua traffic will be routed to Waianuenue Ave.

Online registration can be done by going to www.HiloHeartWalk.org or by calling the Heart Walk coordinator at 1-808-377-6646 for information.