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On Saturday morning, more than 70 members of the Amarillo community and beyond turned out to participate in the fourth annual Turner Fitness walk/run event at Bones Hooks Park in Amarillo.
This year’s event, billed as “50 for 50,” had a dual goal of promoting fitness and raising $50,000 for the American Cancer Society.
Founder of the event and CEO of Turner Fitness, Marcell Turner, said the event aims to give to a different charity each year.
“We want to promote health and fitness in the community, and this year, we want to raise money for the American Cancer Society since cancer is something that touches many lives in the community,” Turner said. “We just want people to get active and take care of themselves, and we want to get people knowledgeable on the importance of fitness and nutrition.”
Participants of the event do warm-up exercises together then can run or walk around the park at their own pace.
Turner, who turned 50 years old this year, was born in Amarillo and attended Amarillo High School. He then went on to Prairie View A&M to study mechanical engineering. He currently lives in Houston but said that he wants to never forget where he came from.
“I want to make sure that I give back to the community I grew up in,” Turner said. “As I get older, the more I realize that purpose is important in life. What I have known since youth was fitness, so I wanted to use something in my talent pool to be able to give back.”
Turner said that with the African American community having so many issues with diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol and other ailments, it is so important to educate people on the importance of fitness.
He said that the first event drew about 30 people and has more than doubled to this year’s 70 who signed up to exercise and run or walk around the park.
“We have to be aware of the importance of what we eat and being physically active to maintain healthy lives,” Turner said. “I hope through my event, I can inspire others to live healthier and have more people come out each year.”
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