Start! Walking
As the signature fund-raising event for the American Heart Association, the Start! Heart Walk promotes physical activity and heart-healthy living in a fun family environment.  This year over 1,000,000 walkers will participate in more than 500 events across the country, raising funds to save lives from this country’s No. 1 and No. 3 killers, heart disease and stroke.

 

The Start! Heart Walk's continued success is largely due to the commitment and dedication of people just like you as well as corporations and organizations across the country.  The leaders and employees of our Start! Heart Walk teams foster passion and determination to save lives by raising funds for heart disease and stroke research and education.

 

By participating in the Start! Heart Walk, corporations and organizations encourage their employees to take steps toward heart-healthy lifestyles while raising funds to fight heart disease and stroke in our community.  Join your employer or family and friends in the Start! Heart Walk.  The funds you raise will help fight the heart disease and the steps you take can “start” you on the road to increased physical activity or celebrate the strides you’ve made.

 

Start! Making a Difference
Many participants are heart disease and stroke survivors.  A “Red Cap Survivor” is anyone who is a heart disease or stroke survivor and participates in the Start! Heart Walk.  They are distinguished at the Start! Heart Walk by wearing a special red cap.  However, not just survivors walk.  Many participants walk “in honor” or “in memory” of a friend or family member who has or had heart disease or stroke.  Others walk in celebration of their own successes making healthy lifestyle changes.

 

Funds raised from the Start! Heart Walk will support heart and stroke research and education programs.  Research funded by the American Heart Association has yielded important discoveries such as CPR, life-extending drugs, pacemakers, bypass surgery and surgical techniques to repair heart defects.  These and other advances are making it possible for many to call themselves "survivors”.