Palm Springs Health Run & Wellness Festival kicks off
One of the largest health expos in Southern California took place on Saturday morning. The annual Palm Springs Health Run and Wellness Festival was held at the Ruth Hard Park near downtown.
The big event kicked off with a 5K and 10K run. Participants got to weave through various Palm Springs neighborhoods along the way. This year's first place winner for the 10K in the female category was Bridget Wickstrand, a cross-country coach at Rancho Mirage High School. She was happy to see such a special event take place so close to home.
“The great thing about running is that anyone can do it," said Wickstrand. "It doesn't matter where you come from, how fast you are, how slow you are, it's a sport for everyone. So I would encourage kids to just get out there and try it. And it's a wonderful community to be a part of.”
The second place finisher, Karissa Devries, used to be a teammate with Wickstrand back in high school. It was her first 10K race and she encourages everyone to try it just once.
"Do it, because you'll get better and it's gonna feel like it's dragging out, it's gonna feel like you're climbing a hill and falling down and climbing a hill," Devries said. "But keep going. Don't ever give up and just keep doing that distance.”
After the run, attendees browsed through the Health Expo. It featured more than 80 vendors, booths and fitness demonstrations throughout the day.
During the free event, people spoke with local wellness centers and received free health screenings. The Blood Bank was also there collecting donations.
"They have lots of vendors here," said Karin Bacon. Bacon was attending the festival with some friends and her dog. "It's all health related. Eisenhower health is here, a lot of Alzheimer's, just getting information about everything.”
One vendor, Citrus Free Clinic, was there promoting their free healthcare services.
“We want to help promote health in the Inland Empire," said Natalie Bishara. "We know that there are there's a lot of need and then there's a lot of people who have concerns that they can't access medical care because of things like citizenship, or insurance. So many other factors that can make healthcare hard to access. For us, we do not require insurance, we do not require citizenship. If you need help, we will give it to you.”
Another vendor, Mobile Spa Concierge, was there to give people and runners massages.
"We're doing massages for this event so people can test them out," said Lauren Ramos. But we also do massages for corporate events, parties, in-home bookings. We're a company that has been here for 25-years. We're proud to be massage therapists.”
The festival is held to encourage a healthy lifestyle for all Coachella Valley residents.
