By Colleen Kane
The Cincinnati Enquirer

About 20 years ago, Barry Levine ran his first Heart Mini-Marathon. About 20 pounds heavier and not into training then, he remembers one particular hill.

"After that, I had to walk," Levine said. "I was hurting so bad."

On Sunday, Levine will run in his eighth Mini-Marathon wearing a red cap, having climbed far greater hills than the one that year.

Levine will join between 12,000 and 13,000 people who will participate in the 27th Humana Heart Mini-Marathon events this weekend to help raise money for the American Heart Association for heart and stroke research. Some of them, like Levine, will be wearing red caps indicating that they, too, are the survivors of heart disease.

Levine suffered a heart attack and had quadruple-bypass surgery in the summer of 1994.

"I went into rehabilitation and I started walking," Levine said. "And when I was walking, I thought I'd go a little farther. Then it became a little farther and a little faster."

And then he got hooked. He started racing in the fall of 1995. Now, the race's 9.3 miles are no sweat for Levine, 56, who has run in 40 marathons since 1996 and will compete in his third Boston Marathon this April. But this race still holds a little more meaning.

"It gives us something good to run for," Levine said.

Last year's events raised more than $750,000. And with a predicted high of 73 degrees (with a chance of rain) Sunday, the American Heart Association's Lori Fovel expects the organization could meet this year's goal of $820,000.

The weekend starts with a Health and Fitness Expo today at the Albert B. Sabin Cincinnati Convention Center at 11 a.m., and continues Sunday with a 5K run at 9 a.m., the 15K at 10 a.m., 5K and 10K walks at noon, and a 2K kids' run at 12:30 p.m. Mary Bunning, heart disease survivor and wife of U.S. Senator Jim Bunning, will speak at the beginning of the heart walk.

Five-time winner John Sence returns to the 15K after taking last year's race off. And this year he has added motivation: He has raised $6,000 in honor of his 2-year-old nephew Zach, who was born with a congenital heart defect and had open-heart surgery this year.

"The interesting thing is you find out how many people know someone or have been touched in some way by heart disease," Sence said. "There's some inspiration there."

This weekend, Sence probably will be challenged by rivals and training partners T.J. Lentz and Henry Dennis. Dennis also missed last year's race to run in Louisville the same weekend. Lentz, the defending 15K champion, ran the same race but came back to run the Mini-Marathon the next day and win in 47:39.

On the women's side, Jill Tranter will try to win her fifth straight 15K. She won last year in 56:58.

Event schedule

Today

• 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. - Health and Fitness Expo

• 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. - Packet and prize pick-up

• Noon - Kids' Fun Run (ages 7 and under)

Sunday, March 28

• 7 a.m.-12:30 p.m. - Packet and prize pick-up

• 9 a.m. - 5K Heart Run

• 10 a.m. - 15K Humana Heart Mini-Marathon

• Noon - 5K and 10K walks

• 12:30 p.m. - 2K Kids' Heart Mini-MaraFun

Where: Expo is at the Albert B. Sabin Cincinnati Convention Center (Fifth and Elm streets, downtown); Race start is at Fifth and Main near Fountain Square; the course follows Columbia Parkway most of the way, with a turnaround at the top of the hill west of Delta Avenue, and finishes at Fifth and Walnut streets.

Cost: $40 adults, $25 children 12 and under, includes T-shirt. Today's Expo is free. Today's Kids' Fun Run is free (children 7 and under).

Registration: At the Convention Center; all day today; opens at 7 a.m. Sunday. It's recommended participants register two hours prior to start of their chosen event.

Results: Posted at www.heartmini.org after 7 p.m. Sunday.