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2013 HEART EXPO:Refugees taking part in Heart Run and Walk

By NEWSChannel 2 Staff

Story Created: Mar 1, 2013 at 5:05 PM EDT

Story Updated: Mar 1, 2013 at 6:55 PM EDT

There will be some unfamiliar faces taking part in the run and walk events during Heart Weekend, and while some of them are still learning English, we all huff and puff in the same language.

They're new and emerging citizens from the Mohawk Valley Center for Refugees and around 25 are running and walking in different events on Saturday.

Jack Cessna, a volunteer at the agency, decided to train them and said he found some natural ability and raw talent.

"I started coaching them, never ran before after getting out of a refugee camp in Chad," Cessna said. "And with a year's training part time, one of them came in second in the Boilermaker 5K."

On Friday, around fifty refugees went through the free health screenings at the Health and Fitness Expo at Utica College.

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