Media Advisory/Photo Opportunity: 4th Annual Athletic Trainer River Run 5K and One-Mile Challenge

WHO: More than 100 local runners joined by athletic trainers and students from UPMC Sports Medicine, Duquesne University, the University of Pittsburgh, Waynesburg College and California University of Pennsylvania

WHAT: Athletic Trainer River Run 5K and One-Mile Challenge sponsored by UPMC Sports Medicine to benefit the scholarship fund of the Southwest Region of the Pennsylvania Athletic Trainers’ Society (PATS)

WHEN: Sunday, March 4, beginning at 9 a.m. with a warm-up. The 5K will start at 10 a.m. followed by awards ceremony, silent auction, raffle and scholarship presentation. The one-mile challenge will start at approximately 11:30 a.m.

WHERE: UPMC Sports Performance Complex, 3200 Water St., Pittsburgh’s South Side

WHY: In celebration of National Athletic Training Month, the Athletic Trainer River Run will raise money for the scholarship fund of the Southwest Region of PATS. An outstanding student from one of the region’s accredited athletic training programs will receive the scholarship after the race. The race raised more than $2,000 for one deserving student in 2006, and event organizers hope to attract a larger turnout this year.

Certified athletic trainers are medical professionals specially trained in the prevention, assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of all types of injury and illness that may occur to athletes or physically active people. UPMC has the region’s largest staff of certified athletic trainers, who care for athletes at local high schools, colleges and universities and dancers of the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. UPMC is the official sports medicine provider for the University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University and the Pittsburgh Steelers.