CUMBERLAND — After a horrific car accident on May 9, 1987, and unsure of whether his fiancee would live or not, Jamie Parks’ life was at a standstill.

Putting their wedding on hold and watching Lynn struggle for nearly seven months to walk and talk again, Jamie was ready to give up his love for running in order to spend as much time as he could with his soon-to-be wife.

But Lynn wouldn’t let him give up something he loved so much, so like any good partnership, they compromised. Before long, Lynn was strapped in a wheelchair cruising through a local 5K. The couple eventually worked their way to a 26.2-mile marathon.

In April 2008, Jamie and Lynn found themselves running, and wheeling, in the Boston Marathon.

This is the heartwarming and inspirational tale that spurred Kevin Spradlin, executive director of the Mountain Maryland Marathon Club, into trying to get the south Chicago-area family to Cumberland to serve as grand marshals for the Mountain Maryland Marathon Festival in April.

“What we can convey is the message that, if these guys can do it, anybody can,” Spradlin said Tuesday at the Cumberland Rotary Club meeting.

After a $1,000 donation from the Community Trust Foundation, Spradlin is only $800 short of bringing the couple and their 9-year-old daughter to Cumberland.

Spradlin is working to not only provide competitive running activity for avid runners, but also to reach out to the community and promote a healthier lifestyle.

Amy Schwab Owens, co-owner of Life Fitness Management in LaVale and main sponsor for the Mountain Maryland Marathon Festival, said the event links to health indicators, obesity trends and community health.

“It’s important to know you can’t change what you don’t know and acknowledge,” Owens said. “The initiative Kevin has goes right with the Healthy People 2010 initiative to introduce and educate, motivate and inspire the community to adopt a healthy lifestyle.”

Owens told Rotarians that 64 percent of U.S. adults and 34 percent of U.S. children suffer from obesity. She then presented maps of the U.S. that categorize state obesity percentages from 1985 until present.

Next came a series of counties in Maryland, including Allegany County, displaying how obesity has increased.

“Right now in Allegany County, 67 percent of the adults are overweight,” Owens said. “Children, teens and adults who are overweight are at a greater risk for heart disease, diabetes, cancer, asthma and arthritis. Children model the parents of their behavior and learn these habits early on in home and school.”

Owens said because of this, initiatives such as the marathon are important. Other local activities include the Great Allegheny Passage biking and hiking trail, C&O; Canal towpath, Family Junction Walk and Roll, Great Allegany Run, YMCA Triathlon at Rocky Gap State Park, mall walkers and the YMCA Community Recreation Program.

“Even a little bit of movement makes a huge difference,” Owens said.

The County United Way will be the beneficiary of the 5K.

Currently 235 participants from 12 states and Washington, D.C., are registered for the event.

The marathon festival will kick off April 18 with a prerace dinner, and April 19 will be event day, which includes the marathon, half-marathon, the 5K for United Way and two children’s events — the kids marathon and 400-meter tot trot. The kids marathon is designed for ages 13 and under, and the 400-meter tot trot is mainly for ages 6 and younger.

The kids marathon will be the full 26.2 miles that the adults run, but the children will be able to do the majority of their running prior to marathon day. Children are expected to log 25 miles through April 18 and then, on April 19, run 1.2 miles and cross the same finish line as the full marathoners.

For more information, visit www.mountainMDmarathon.org, e-mail run@mountainMDmarathon.org or call (240) 522-0276.

Contact Tess Hill at thill@times-news.com.