Happy Thanksgiving

The staff of RUNOHIO would like to wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving.

A little on the history of thanksgiving from - http://www.infoplease.com/spot/tgturkey1.html

Many say the first American Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621, to commemorate the harvest reaped by the Plymouth Colony after a harsh winter. In that year Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving. The colonists celebrated it as a traditional English harvest feast, to which they invited the local Wampanoag Indians.

President Abraham Lincoln, looking for ways to unite the nation in 1863 he gave his Thanksgiving Proclamation, declaring the last Thursday in November a day of thanksgiving.

In 1939, 1940, and 1941 Franklin D. Roosevelt, seeking to lengthen the Christmas shopping season, proclaimed Thanksgiving the third Thursday in November. Controversy followed, and Congress passed a joint resolution in 1941 decreeing that Thanksgiving should fall on the fourth Thursday of November, where it remain.

Thanksgiving has not only become a time to give thanks for all we have, it has also become a day for many to run a road race.

The following is from the Thanksgiving Day Run history –

http://www.thanksgivingdayrace.com/history.php

Any list of Thanksgiving traditions starts with turkey. Toss in football, the Macy's Parade and the official kickoff to Christmas shopping season.

And in Greater Cincinnati, add one unusual ingredient to the recipe: a Thanksgiving Day race that sends runners streaming through the streets of Northern Kentucky and downtown Cincinnati.

More than nine decades after 18 runners raced from the Fort Thomas Gym to the YMCA in downtown Cincinnati, the Thanksgiving Day race - the oldest road race of any kind in the Midwest - has become an integral part of the holiday for the thousands who run it annually.

For more information on the 99th running of the Thanksgiving Day 10K –

http://www.thanksgivingdayrace.com/index.php

For other Thanksgiving Day races go to - http://www.runohio.com/november-2008

and - http://www.runohio.com/national_calendar

Hopefully, as we all look back on the past year we all have a number of things we can give Thanks…..

This month I am especially thankful that I decided to go to my local doctor and explain to him that I wasn’t feeling well when I ran…Long story made short. I had a stress test at the OSU Ross Heart Hospital and it was positive after exercise. Then Dr. Ray Magorien performed a heart cauterization. During the procedure it was discovered my Right Coronary Artery (RCA) had a 95 percent blockage. This resulted in two stents being put in the RCA and one in my right distal. Before the procedure the artery looked like a string afterwards it looked like a straw.

I can look back over the past few month and even years noticing as I ran I felt like I was out of shape and old…but I am very lucky to notice something during running and having the problem addressed before something more serve happened.

My dad had a heard attack which was fatal when he was 59 years old. I never expected that I had a health problem as I run and am probably in better shape than 90 percent of the population. I also probably eat better than 80 percent of the population. My heart ejection fraction was 68, someone my age a 50 ejection fraction is normal…so I am lucky I have a strong heart.

Cardiovascular disease risks includes – uncontrollable factors – family history, age and sex. However, we can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by addressing the controllable risk factors such as diet, high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, exercise regularly, reduce stress and weight if we are overweight, and not to smoke.

By addressing the above combined with a few medicines I should be back running soon and hopefully for a long time…..

Remember your health is the most important thing you have.

I hope you have a great Thanksgiving and are able to spend it with family and friends.

Matt McGowan

www.runohio.com