Help Stop Lung Cancer at Breathe Deep Columbia 5K Walk and Lung Awareness Fair

A good walk can make a great difference. That distance — 5 kilometers, or 3.1 miles — can go a long way toward helping the effort to stop lung cancer.

The Breathe Deep Columbia 5K Walk and Lung Awareness Fair is being held on Saturday, April 20, beginning at the Lakefront Plaza in Downtown Columbia. The fundraising event is made possible by the LUNGevity Foundation, in collaboration with Columbia Association (CA), Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Associates and Maryland Oncology Hematology.

Those attending will participate in a 5K walk on Columbia’s pathways from the Lakefront Plaza to and around Wilde Lake, and then back. Strollers are welcome, as are pets (but be sure to clean up after your pet). Only portions of the walk are wheelchair accessible. There is an alternative 1K route for those challenged by the longer walk. The event begins with team pictures at 8 a.m., registration at 8:30 a.m. and a program at 9 a.m. The walk starts at 10 a.m, and the fair ends at 2 p.m.

Participants will have the opportunity to celebrate and honor their loved ones, families and friends who have been affected by lung cancer, a devastating disease that impacts 1 in 14 Americans and claims more than 160,000 lives per year. They will leave Breathe Deep Columbia knowing that the money they raised will fund research to end lung cancer.

Research made possible by funding from LUNGevity is finding ways to expedite the development of an effective early detection strategy to discover all lung cancers while they are still localized and treatable, and to identify therapeutic agents that provide customized genetic intervention for lung cancer in order to extend patients’ lives and improve their quality of life post-diagnosis.

Breathe Deep Columbia is also a lung awareness fair with exhibitors and health screenings. For more information on registering, volunteering, sponsoring or donating to the event, go to Lungevity.org/Columbia. Enter code “icare” for $5 off the registration fee.

This year’s event honors the memory of the late Dr. Clement B. Knight, a local oncologist who passed away last August.

Paddle Boats Are Back at Lake Kittamaqundi

The aroma of funnel cakes filled the evening air at the lakefront celebration of Columbia’s 45th birthday in June. And if that wasn’t enough to attract people to the lakefront celebration, there was another alluring attraction: paddle boats. They’re back, and with plenty of time for their use during the many gorgeous summer nights at Lake Kittamaqundi.

Take a visit to the booth across from Clyde’s, and you’ll discover that just $15 gets you a sparkle-blue paddle boat for a half-hour. These traditional paddle boats seat up to four people — two pedalers and two riders. Once the supplied life vest is on, you can get the voyage underway. The front two passengers can pedal while the two in the back do the really hard job of working the smartphones to get some happy pictures, post ’em and capture another happy memory.

Lakefront paddle boats can be rented during the following times:

Monday–Friday from 4–dusk

Saturday and Sunday from noon–dusk

One person per boat must be at least 18 years old, and all paddle boat riders must be at least a year old. Plan an evening out on the lake while summer’s still here! Call 301-370-5105 for more information.

Written by Mark Scott

Paddle Boats on Lake Kittamaqundi

Today I was at Lake Kittamaqundi taking photos when I saw something I didn’t think I had ever seen on the lake. I saw paddle boats! Maybe I had just missed them before? No, that wasn’t possible. Or perhaps they only come out on the first day of summer? That didn’t seem probable. A few moments later I realized I went to the lake just as the paddle boats were being delivered. How cool!

Washingtonian Paddle Boats and Columbia Paddle Boats, Cathy Frager, was helping unload the boats so I had a chance to talk to her a bit.  She told me that she had heard about Lake Kittamaqundi and the lakefront from a friend who thought it might be a great place for her paddle boat business. After taking a look, she agreed and made contact with the Columbia Association to inquire about renting space at the docks for the boats and the booth. And here they are, deal done. The boats are on the water!

Prices for paddle boat rentals will be $15 for a half hour and will include life preservers for all paddlers on the boat. Tickets can be purchased at the docks with either cash or check. They will operate seven days a week, seasonally, and will be open Monday through Friday starting at 4 p.m. with the last boat rental at dusk. and Saturdays and Sundays from noon until the last boat rental at dusk.

My 7-year-old son is going to be so excited when he sees these boats! He loves going on boat rides, but we don’t own a boat, so his opportunities to get on the water are limited. Now he can get on a boat whenever we go to a lakefront event or, I suppose, whenever he can persuade us at other times.

Using paddle boats also fits in with one of my goals for my kids, which is to get more movement in their lives. Renting a paddle boat will not only be fun, but it’s another way to fit in movement with every day living; exercising without fully realizing it.

 

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Melissa Sinclair works in the Communications & Engagement Division at Columbia Association (CA). Melissa recently moved to Columbia with her three-generation family. She has lived in more than a dozen cities and is looking forward to making Columbia, Md., her permanent home! Over the past year she has worked on losing weight, getting fit and doing volunteer work; she is now looking forward to working for CA after staying home with her family for the last several years. Melissa has a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and a master’s degree in educational administration. Click here to read more of Melissa’s Getting to Know CA series.