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YMCA speaker encourages heart-healthy
choices
Wednesday, October 22 | 7:03 p.m.
By Scott Hewitt
Columbian Staff Writer
OK, stand up. Stretch. Take a deep breath and get your "wonderful
heart muscle" going.
Keynote speaker Sally Edwards gave those instructions, and that
compliment to the constantly working human motor, to the hundreds
of folks who turned out at the YMCA's Health Communities luncheon
Wednesday.
The benefit luncheon and silent auction were held at the Hilton
Vancouver Washington.
Everybody did what the triathlete, CEO and motivational speaker
commanded: They stood up, reached for the ceiling and took in
some air - then they went back to eating what Edwards commended
as a healthy lunch while she warned that heart disease is the
no. 1 killer in America.
Heart health was the theme of the event, and Edwards was on
hand to inspire her audience to make a change for the healthier.
Americans are weighed down by bad food choices, stress and lack
of exercise, she said. She urged everyone to "lighten your load"
by eating right, exercising and defeating stress.
"Stress makes you fat, stupid and sick," she said. "There's
a lot of stress in our culture."
She had everyone take their pulses to find out just how hard
their hearts were working.
Edwards, 61, raced around the room like a woman half her age
- even changing costumes several times to take on the personas
of Sally the Banker (making investments in her health), Sally
the coach (urging her team to perform well) and Sally the Professional
Triathlete (demonstrating great results).
She is a former master's record holder in the Ironman Triathlon,
and a world record holder in the Iditashoe 100-mile snowshoe
race. She also is a winner of numerous other races, marathons
and adventure races. She founded Fleet Feet Sports, a retail
sports franchise, and Heart Zones USA, a fitness training and
education company.
"What really should matter in our life is our health, taking
care of ourselves," she said.
The YMCA Healthy Communities Luncheon also saw the annual Spirit
of Health Award given to Tom Mears, former CEO and current chairman
of Burgerville's parent company The Holland.
Mears was honored for Burgerville's generous employee health
benefits and green business practices - and for his leadership
of Community Choices, a Clark County nonprofit organization
promoting community health.
The luncheon also included an impassioned talk by John Visser,
a Y board member and founder of its Y-Pals mentoring program.
Y-Pals has helped steer thousands of at-risk youths avoid hopeless
situations, he said.
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