ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 26, 1996 TAG: 9603260023
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Health Notes
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY
It's spring, which means it's also time to check just above your waist and see how well you wintered. If you can pinch more flesh than is comfortable, you know what you need to do.
Exercise. And while exercise is fun once you get going, the start-up can be difficult. One way to get going is to raise money for people who are ill. The next month offers several events requiring varying levels of fitness so there should be at least one for everyone. Here's a rundown:
* The Dick Daniels Charity Mini-Golf Classic to raise money for children's cancer services at Community Hospital of Roanoke Valley will be held April 6 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at Putt-Putt Golf and Games on Peters Creek Road in Roanoke.
Q-99 Radio, where Daniels hosts the "Breakfast Club," is sponsoring the event in which you pay $5 to out putt-putt local media types.
Tee-offs will be at the start of each hour. To sign up, call Neil Andrews, Q-99 creative services director, at 387-0234. Not a very strenuous event, of course, but the stooping, bending and swinging ought to loosen you up.
* March of Dimes WalkAmerica will celebrate its 25th year in the Roanoke Valley on April 28.
The route is about eight miles and begins and ends at the National Guard Armory near Victory Stadium in Roanoke. No major hills are involved, but you might want to prepare by doing a few miles before that day. Participants get donations from individuals or companies and "pay" those donations to take part in the walk. Registration is at 8:15 a.m. and the walk begins at 9. A picnic for walkers concludes the event, which raises about $90,000 for research to eliminate birth defects.
If you don't live in the Roanoke Valley, perhaps one of these walks is close to you: Low Moor, April 28; Bedford, April 14; Rocky Mount, April 27; Martinsville, May 4; Lynchburg, April 28; Dublin, April 20; Buena Vista, May 5; Wytheville, April 28; Pearisburg, April 13.
* American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure will be staged April 27 by the association's Central Virginia Chapter. Three routes have been charted through Appomattox County, site of the end of the Civil War, so that people with different levels of biking expertise can participate. Serious cyclists can tackle the 100K loop. Casual riders might be better off on the 50K or 25K routes.
The goal for the event is $150 in pledges per cyclist, but no one will toss you out if you come up with less. You can register or get more information by calling (800) 868-7888. On the day of the ride, participants can begin checking in at 7 a.m. at Appomattox County High School.
What's homeopathy?
Natural medicine, or homeopathy, is getting a lion's share of attention these days, but if you're one of the people still wondering what it is, you can find out April 5 in Radford.
Dr. Mitch Fleisher, who combines homeopathic and mainstream medicine, will speak at 6:30 p.m. in the Commonwealth Room at Heth Student Center at Radford University. Fleisher is a member of Blue Ridge Medical Center, which is about halfway between Lynchburg and Charlottesville in Arrington.
His talk will be on the basics of homeopathy, which uses nontoxic medicinal substances to get the body's natural immune system to fight disease.
Naomi Barzilai, who lives in the New River Valley and teaches for the National Center for Homeopathy, arranged Fleisher's talk. She says it will last about an hour and a half. If you want more information, call her at 552-2053.
You can reach Sandra Kelly at 981-3393, (800) 346-1234, ext. 393, or at skelly2180AOL.COM
LENGTH: Medium: 70 linesby CNB