Lub Dub runners raise $14,000 for BRHC foundation

The streets around Bothwell Regional Health Center were filled with some 256 runners, joggers and walkers Saturday for the fourth annual Lub Dub Run.

Melia Douglass, Bothwell Regional Health Center Foundation executive director, said this year’s Lub Dub — which included 10K and 5K runs, as well as a 5K walk — was a “great success.”

“We really want something that is challenging and encourages friendly competition while still being accessible to entry-level fitness,” Douglass said.

She credited supportive sponsors and motivated participants with helping raise about $14,000 for the hospital’s foundation. The event benefits the Camye Callis Gaspard Heart Fund, which helps purchase equipment and supplies to support cardiovascular health in Sedalia.

The first man to cross the finish line, Charles Rodewald, said he had only been jogging about two weeks before competing in last year’s Lub Dub.

“That kind of inspired me,” said Rodewald, who spent the year after that race competing in 13 other races — earning medals in nine of them.

Rodewald, who shaved about 8 minutes from his 2010 time, said he is “pretty happy with that time.”

His sentiments were echoed by Andrea St. Clair, a State Fair Community College nursing student, who was the first woman across the finish line on Saturday.

“I did it last year and I was excited to come back. This is one of my favorite races to compete in,” St. Clair said.

BRHC also used the day to host its third Operation Medicine Cabinet, which allows members of the public a safe way to dispose of old prescription and over-the-counter medications.
Sarah Nail, BRHC community outreach coordinator, said the event remains popular with the public.

“We collected 101 pounds of prescription and over-the-counter medications. Of that, 64 pounds were prescription and 37 were over-the-counter. We had 44 people drop off medications,” Nail said.