NEWS

Sole Sisters III will soon begin training for Race for the Cure; orientation is Tuesday

CHAPEL HILL -- The weather outside has been frightful, but one sign that spring is on the way is the approaching kick-off for this year’s Sole Sisters, an exercise program designed for women who do not regularly exercise.

The Sole Sisters III program will officially kick off at 6 p.m. Tuesday (Feb. 25) with an orientation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education. Weekly training sessions will begin at 5:30 p.m. March 11 at the Friday Center.

Women ages 21 and older with no current, regular exercise program may register; enrollment is limited to the first 100 women.

The Sole Sisters III group also will participate in the June 14 Komen NC Triangle Race for the Cure, as a part of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center team. Last year, more than 16,000 runners and walkers participated in the race and raised more than $580,000. Proceeds from the race go toward breast cancer education, screening and treatment programs in the Triangle and surrounding areas.

Judith Swasey, a surgical oncology nurse practitioner at the Lineberger center and a runner, will lead the group. More than 400 women have participated in the Sole Sisters program, Swasey said. Although the annual group goal is completion of the Race for the Cure, the most important outcome is a lifelong exercise program and its accompanying benefits, she added.

"It is a real challenge for women to tell them they’ll be able to run, or walk, three miles in 12 weeks, and the recognition that athletics gives women is very important – it may be the first time that many have ever had someone cheering for them."

Starting and continuing a regular exercise program is key to a healthy lifestyle for women and can help with health issues including managing stress, controlling high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and decreasing the risk for cancer and osteoporosis, Swasey said.

To register for the Sole Sisters III, contact Swasey at (919) 843-8057 or Dianne Shaw at (919) 966-5905.

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Lineberger center contact: Dianne Shaw, (919) 966-5905 or dgs@med.unc.edu
News Services contact: Deb Saine, (919) 962-8415