YORKVILLE — Survivors of heart disease, team captains, sponsors and past top walkers at America’s Greatest Heart Run & Walk gathered on Thursday, March 23, at Mastrovito Hyundai to kick off the event.

This year’s event will take place on Saturday, June 17, from 8 a.m. to noon at Accelerate Sports, 5241 Judd Rd., Whitesboro.

Check-in will start at 8 a.m., with the 5K run beginning at 8:30 a.m. and the walk beginning at 9 a.m.

This year, Frank Mastrovito of Mastrovito Hyundai will be the event’s corporate chair. Mike McGraw of Strategic Financial Services will be the chair of the expo and course, Tina Pavlot of M&T Bank will serve as the telethon chair, and Morgan Mielnicki of Sentinel Media Company will be the radiothon chair.

“The American Heart Association does so much in our community, and I’m very proud to be part of it,” Mastrovito said. “We all know that heart disease is the number one cause of death in the U.S., and stroke is number five. Here in the Mohawk Valley, we know that at least 26% of people have high blood pressure, a leading risk factor for heart disease and stroke. The Heart Association works to combat that. We are funding three research projects locally, two at Masonic Medical Research Institute and one at Hamilton College.”

America’s Greatest Heart Run & Walk is put on by the local chapter of the American Heart Association. The event gets participants up and active while promoting heart health and raising funds to help address and prevent heart disease and stroke, which the organization states are the two leading causes of death in the world.

As of Friday, March 24, the local chapter of the American Heart Association has raised over $200,000 with a goal of reaching $750,000.

“We’re the only Heart Walk in the nation with the word ‘greatest’ in the title,” McGraw said. “Our event started with the WIBX Heart Radiothon 52 years ago and has been going strong ever since. Even when blizzards and pandemics challenge us, we keep on going. Every year, people turn out and fundraise, so the American Heart Association can go on saving the lives of the people we love.”

The Heart Telethon will air on WKTV the day before the event on Friday, June 16 from noon to 8 p.m. and during the event on Saturday, June 17. The WIBX Heart Radiothon and Treadmill Challenge will take place on Friday, June 16 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., airing on WIBX and taking place at Accelerate Sports.

To register for the event, visit uticaheartrunwalk.org. Registration for the 5K run will begin at 8 a.m. on the event day.