St. Luke’s Palmerton Campus to hold 17th Annual ‘Five and Dime’ Road Race

PALMERTON, Pa. – St. Luke’s Palmerton Campus will hold its 17^th Annual “Five and Dime” (5 kilometer /10 kilometer) Road Race and Kid’s Fun Run on Saturday, May 12, 2018 in the Palmerton Borough Park, located on Delaware Avenue in Palmerton, Pa.

The event is presented by St. Luke’s Palmerton Campus Medical Staff. Michael Martinez, MD, chief of surgery at St. Luke’s Palmerton Campus, and Nancy Collins, RN, a long-time registered nurse at the campus, are the chairpersons.

“This 5K/10K is a great event and it’s amazing to see how this race has grown from 100 runners to the size it is today,” says Martinez. “We have many return runners and our 5000 meter course is certified by the USA Track and Field, so that is a big draw for many runners in the area.” (USATF certification means that an official world record could be set on the 5K course.)

Proceeds from this year’s event will benefit the St. Luke’s Mobile Dental Clinic. The clinic provides Medicaid-eligible children from school districts in Carbon and eastern Schuylkill counties with bi-annual check-ups, cleanings and restorative services.

“We take care of our race participants because without them, we couldn’t raise the funds for the St. Luke’s Mobile Dental Van, which provides dental care to more than 2,500 students in our region,” says Collins. “It’s a program that is very important to our community.” 

The day’s events will begin at 8 a.m., with check-in and registration. The 10K begins at 9 a.m., the 5K at 9:15 a.m. and the Run/Walk at 10:15 a.m. followed by the awards ceremony at approximately 10:30 a.m. Music and refreshments will be a part of the event. Athletes from across the country have taken part in this annual event, which includes male and female participants in all age divisions. Awards for the races are given to the top overall male and female runners. Stethoscope awards are awarded to the top three male and female finishers in the age categories of 12 and under; 13-18; 19-29; 30-29; 40-49; 50-59, and 60 and over. There is also a team competition in which awards are given for the largest team, largest family team, fastest team and team that raises the most money.

For more information or to register for the race, please visit www.bmhs5k.com or call (610) 377-7350.

Media Contact:

Sam Kennedy, Corporate Communications Director, 484-526-4134, samuel.kennedy@sluhn.org

About St. Luke’s

Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of 14,000 employees providing services at 10 hospitals and over 300 outpatient sites.  With annual net revenue of $1.9 billion, the Network’s service area includes 10 counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe and Schuylkill counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.  Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke’s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania.  In partnership with Temple University, St. Luke’s created the region’s first and only regional medical school campus.  It also operates the nation’s longest continuously operating School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 28 fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with 226 residents and fellows.  St. Luke’s is the only health care system in central-eastern Pennsylvania to earn Medicare’s five-star rating (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction.  St. Luke’s has earned the 100 Top Major Teaching Hospital designation from IBM Watson Health (formerly Truven Health Analytics) repeatedly – six times total and four years in a row including 2018.  It has also been cited by IBM Watson Health as a 50 Top Cardiovascular Program.  Utilizing the EPIC electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired award recognizing the breadth of the SLUHN’s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information.  St. Luke’s is also recognized as one of the state’s lowest cost providers.