The 2023 Heart Run will take place Saturday morning at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage. For many of the people participating, it represents redemption, community and a big part of the healing process.
Kambe Padgett, photographed in Anchorage on Thursday. Padgett has had eight heart surgeries over the course of her life and will be participating in the Alaska Heart Run & Walk on Saturday.
“It will be emotional,” she said. “After last year, I just thought I’m never going to be able to do this. I loved to hike and run and I haven’t been able to do that. So even doing this walk on Saturday, it’s a big thing for me just to say to myself, ‘OK, I can do this.’" Padgett, who grew up in Seward and now lives in Wasilla, hasn’t always been able to say that. As a teenager, she wanted to be more active but physically wasn’t able.
“I couldn’t exercise, and I had a really crappy attitude having a pacemaker, so mentally that was depressing,” she said. “It was like, a failure feeling. I still couldn’t do stuff like how we suspected I’d be able to, and I gained weight. It was physically depressing. Emotionally, I was a wreck for a really long time.”Padgett, who earlier this month competed in the Mrs. Alaska America Pageant, will be walking Saturday with fellow pageant contestants.
Anchorage's Rob Gambill suffered a heart attack in 2021 and is participating in his second Alaska Heart Run & Walk on Saturday.
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