Eight pre-dialysis specialist nurses from Whangarei Hospital's Renal Unit will be participating in the Chilltech Beach to Basin fun run tomorrow.
The hospital staff are promoting exercise as a way of reducing the risk of chronic liver disease as well as other illnesses, to mark World Kidney Day.
"Exercise is a way
of maintaining your body weight and helps to improve your blood pressure," hospital renal nurse manager Cheryle Kiwi says.
"In Northland, we've got a high percentage of diabetic patients and we're highlighting that through the fun run and walk, as well as holding free blood pressure tests at Forum North on Tuesday."
The unit's staff will provide free checks to determine whether people are at risk of developing kidney disease.
Meanwhile, entries have passed the 2000 mark for the Chilltech sponsored event, making it as popular as last year - something that has pleased organiser Colleen Atchison.
"We're really happy with the numbers because the general trend nationwide for this sort of event thisyear has been generally downward," she says.
The event is the first of seven in the 2011 Sport Northland Run-Walk series, and while the focus of the series has always been promoting the social aspect of exercise, this year's Mizone Leaderboard has been introduced for the elite athletes.
One distance from each of the seven events in the series will be specified for the leaderboard with the 9km race on Sunday nominated.
The first five men and women over the finish line will be awarded points based on their finishing place with the winner getting eight points through to one point for fifth. After the Fullers Kerikeri Half Marathon, the winners will be announced.
Runners start at 8am tomorrow with the 5.7km distance starting at the Onerahi Tavern and the 9km race starting near the Onerahi Yacht Club. Walkers start half-an-hour later.
