'First to Burst' race teaches runners about lung health - KBZK.com | Continuous News | Bozeman, Montana

The Running Lungs 2k, 5k, and 10k race kicked off at Lindley Park this morning with a challenge that adds a little pop; The First to Burst.

Created by the Wortman Lung Cancer Foundation, First to Burst is a challenge where you race a partner to blow up a balloon, and then you burst it.

But First to Burst is more than just a competition, it reminds us of the importance of lung health. 

"By blowing up balloons, researchers learned you can really collect a lot of data about your lungs, and by blowing up a balloon at a race, or turning it into a big challenge, we hope to raise a lot of money for research," said Linda Wortman, Co-Founder, President and CEO of the WLCF and Running Lungs.

And soon, the First to Burst challenge will come to smart phones, where you can blow up a virtual balloon, and learn more about your breathing habits with an app called MyBreath.

"It can give data about how long it took you [to blow up the balloon], how many breaths, what your breath force per second was, and we thought that that could help her campaign and goal of the WLCF, which is to raise awareness and raise funds for research," said BreathResearch President and CEO Nirinjan Yee.

MyBreath and Running Lungs are created in partnership with the Mayo Clinic and WLCF, to bring together research and education.

The app is expected to be up and running by Running Lungs' next race on July 21 in Big Sky.

To sign up for the next race, and to learn more about the MyBreath app, visit the Wortman Lung Cancer Foundation's website.