What to expect at this year's Health and Wellness Expo

Memorial Marathon weekend kicks off with the OKC Health and Fitness Expo at the Oklahoma City Convention Center.

As doors opened, the Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages Porch spoke with Dr. Susan Chambers, Chair of the OKC National Memorial & Museum, to learn more about this year's events.

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Q: Are you excited about Memorial Marathon weekend?

A: I'm very excited, we are excited to host over 25,000 runners. We're getting close to a record. We hope maybe we'll hit 26,000, but we're definitely out of the post-COVID record. We're very excited about everybody that's come to town to celebrate our Run to Remember and to participate in the great city of Oklahoma City and the great state of Oklahoma.

Q: People from all over this country, and also the world, are coming. Can you talk about that?

A: We have a runner from every state and 17 foreign countries. So we have a flag for every state and every country that's represented in the race.

Q: What about the vendors for this year?

A: We have more vendors than ever. Yes, we have 91 vendors, the most ever. We're very excited. You can come shopping for running gear, running shoes, the Memorial Museum store is open with all the cool memorial stuff. Of course, my favorite, the News 9 vendor booth, and then the Lakeside Doctor's booth, and then Gorilla Hill. I always have to get a T-shirt from them because I live on Gorilla Hill, so lots of fun things.

Q: You are very connected with this race weekend. Can you talk about your connection? 

A: I am the chairman of the Board of the Memorial trustees, and I've been involved with the board for 10 or so years. At the time of the bombing, I was actually a first responder and worked in the medical tents, and so I've had a connection to our mission for 30 years, and it's the most amazing organization to be a part of. Everything that we do is connected to our mission, so that everything that we do whether it's something at the museum or running the marathon, we always come back to our mission to remember those who were killed, those survive survived and those changed forever. 

Q: Exactly as you said, we Run to Remember. For those who are running this weekend, they have to come to Expo. What do they need to know when they come here?

A: They'll come here and they'll pick up packets, and there are there's it's very well organized here. I give our staff and volunteers great credit. So pick up your packets, do some shopping. There are race T-shirts that they get to pick up, too. So come and spend some time, it's just a fun place to be in community with fellow runners or just people who are supporting vendors or supporting the mission.