RUN THE RACE: Lifelong Dancer & Coach Pairing Up With WTVM’s Jason Dennis to Help Alzheimer’s Patients

COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) - I am 1 of 13 contestants in this year’s “Dancing Stars of Columbus” in West Georgia, a dance competition this week! And we are raising money to help fight Alzheimer’s Disease, which you can help with: https://act.alz.org/site/TR?px=22073268&pg=personal&fr_id=16244.

Our latest guest on the “Run The Race” podcast is my pro partner and dance instructor/choreographer Tracie Chamblee, who began dancing at age 5 and has been teaching dance for a total of two decades. She talks about how the two of us have been doing with the 90 second routine to NSync music, practicing almost daily at her Cottrell Dance Studio in Columbus GA – all to raise funds for a worthy cause.

“Everybody has someone in their family or knows someone who’s been affected by Alzheimer’s.” Chamblee said on the podcast.

Dance can also be a workout! We talk about how it uses muscles you may not normally use. And it’s vital to have a strong core for dancing. When Tracie was younger, she would practice dance 20 hours per week. Injury halted her dreams of being a professional dancer, but she loves to teach.

“Dancing is a wonderful way to exercise because you’re having fun at the same time, so when you’re having fun, you don’t see it as exercise,’ Chamblee said.

She is a pro in this local “Dancing Stars” competition for the 5th season, involved because of the heartbreak of seeing both her grandmothers go through dementia. Tracie shares her story on the pod. This is a way to raise money to help caregivers, families.

“It’s heartbreaking,” she added. “To watch them (grandmothers) disappear in front of your eyes, some days they knew who you were and some days they didn’t, personality changes.”

Why is she so passionate about helping others learn how to dance better? Tracie also says there are lessons of life and faith in it. Losing her dad when she was 19, my dance partner says what pulled her out of weeks of depression was dance. She describes how it saved her life!

Thanks for listening to the #RunTheRace podcast! Also, write a quick review about it, on Apple podcasts. To subscribe, get more information or listen to all past episodes about fitness and faith, go to www.wtvm.com/podcast/.

Copyright 2023 WTVM. All rights reserved.