Sence is running this year to raise money in honor of his 2-year-old nephew, Zach, who was born with a congenital heart defect.

Sence said Zach is doing fine after surgery this year.

"I have set three goals for the mini-marathon: to raise $7,500 for the American Heart Association, win my 6th Heart Mini-Marathon 15K and to get you to join our team,'' Sence said. "We all know what a great race the Heart Mini-Marathon is, but we often forget that raising money for the American Heart Association is what the event is really all about.''

Sence, of Kenwood, is a world-class marathoner. He competed in the 1996 and 2000 Olympic trials.

"I had hoped to get in the trials this year, but I didn't make it,'' Sence said. "Running in this mini-marathon to help raise money in honor of Zach is an honor. My brother, Tim, has asked me to help him develop a training plan. He may be able to walk the mini-marathon. Once you are touched by the heart disease, either yourself, someone you know or a relative, you want to do something.''

The Heart Mini-Marathon will start at Fountain Square, go east on Columbia Parkway to Delta Avenue, and then return to downtown Cincinnati.

Walk to fight arthritis

Barb Precht, who is serving as chairman for the 2004 Ohio Valley Arthritis Walk, said she needs walkers for the event set for May 16.

Precht said funds raised will benefit the Arthritis Foundation. The walk is noncompetitive, she said.

"It is a fun-filled, fully accessible 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) course with a one-mile option for those who wish to walk a shorter distance,'' Precht said.

Precht said the celebration afterward will include entertainment, food, sponsor booths and health information.

"It will be like a mini health fair,'' Precht said.

Participants in the walk collect donations to help fight arthritis.

Some facts about the disease are: more than 70 million Americans have it, more than 300,000 children suffer from the disease, and it is one of the most prevalent chronic health problems.

To participate in the walk, call 271-4545 or log on to www.arthritis.org.

Relay for Life planned

A Relay For Life to benefit the American Cancer Society will take place at 6 p.m. April 2 on the Xavier University campus on the residential mall in front of the Gallagher Student Center. The relay will last 18 hours, with members of walking teams taking turns walking around a track, symbolizing that cancer never sleeps.

The goal is to raise $40,000.

For more information about the relay, call 891-1600.

Positively kids: Clarinet scholar

Rob Patterson has entered Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music this year to study clarinet with Donald Montanaro, associate principal clarinet of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He is the recipient of a merit-based full tuition scholarship and holds the Institute's Louisa Knapp Curtis Fellowship.

The Cincinnati Country Day School graduate has studied clarinet since age 11. He has appeared with the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Blue Ash Youth Symphony and the Ohio Music Education Association's All-State Honor Orchestra, Southwest Regional Orchestra and All-State Honor Band.

He is the son of Carol Walker and Robert Patterson of Indian Hill.

New Eagle Scout

Nathan Valenti, of Troop 18 sponsored by St. Saviour Church in Rossmoyne, has achieved the highest rank of the Boy Scouts of America: the Eagle Scout award. For his community service project, he and his crew erected an access ramp for a person with multiple sclerosis.

Nathan, a senior at Sycamore High School, is the son of Kristin Valenti of Blue Ash and Douglas Valenti of Wapakoneta, Ohio.

Singer in spotlight

Mark Andrea, a sophomore at Lakota East High School, was selected by audition to appear at the Ohio University Honor Band & Choir Festival in January. An honor student at Lakota East, Mark is a member of the Eastside Music Company (show choir) and Mu Alpha Theta math honorary.

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