A Run to Remember is set for June 8 at the MCTrail Rail Trail at Prickett’s Fort State Park. The 5K run/walk will raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association. Organizers Brenna Wilson and Hunter Taylor have a personal reason for hosting the event, which will pay tribute to a Lumberport resident, someone special to them.

 

“My Poppop, Roger Flowers, is one of the best people I have known in life. He has had such a meaningful and positive impact on so many lives which is why it is so unfair and cruel that he is afflicted with this horrible disease,” Wilson said. “Alzheimer's disease, if you weren't aware, is a degenerative neurological disease in which the healthy neurons in the brain become covered in amyloid plaques and neurofibril tangles which cause the healthy neurons to atrophy and thus the degenerative symptoms that you see from Alzheimer's.”

 

Wilson and her boyfriend, Hunter, are both graduates of Grafton High School and both major in exercise physiology majors with plans to pursue healthcare careers. This is their first attempt at a charity event, but their inspiration is strong.

 

“For all his life, my Poppop has been a giver. From his youth when he gave up playing football at Glenville State to serve in the army to volunteering to use his creative skills to build props for my dance recitals,” Wilson said. “He was very active in putting together the Italian Heritage Festival in Clarksburg and up until he lost his license (as a result of Alzheimer's), he drove patients who couldn't drive themselves to the VA Hospital for appointments. All of this proves that no amount of giving or good deeds can prevent Alzheimer's, so I believe it is up to us to find something that can.”

Alzheimer’s is still very much a mystery, Wilson said, but it is thought to be an autoimmune disorder and practically unpreventable.

 

“With the knowledge that we currently have about Alzheimer's, there is no prevention or treatment, so you are simply at its mercy if you are unlucky enough to be afflicted by it – and so many are affected,” she said. “I am no scientist. I can't get behind the microscope and hypothesize a treatment for Alzheimer's. But what I can do is, is raise money to give to the researchers who will find treatments and cures. And that's my goal.”

 

Registration will begin at 9 a.m. on June 8 and race time is 11 a.m. Participants of all ages and abilities are invited to complete the 3.1-mile course, which is paved.

 

“It is a very beautiful trail with overlooks of Prickett's Creek and different rock formations along the trail,” Wilson said. “The trail is also almost completely shaded so even in the heat of the June participants will remain shaded from the sun.”

 

Drinks, snacks, and T-shirts will be available for purchase with all proceeds to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association.

 

Business sponsors are still needed. To register for the race, obtain more information or make a donation, visit https://www.arun2remember.com/.