Runnin’ Til I’m Purple V Link:
https://act.alz.org/site/TR?fr_id=18274&pg=personal&px=14575499
More details coming very soon, but this is the revised plan:
(Updated 3/2025) I am going to multitask for at least 36 hours, but unfortunately, due to my accident in August, it will be completely mental. My game plan is to alternate reading (out loud) Don Quixote and the New Testament with an occasional break for math problem sheets. It will kind of be like a political fillbuster. 🙂 Next year, hopefully, I will resume my crazy physical events, but I feel like this may be even harder once I hit the 2nd day. I will be streaming the event, some of it will be on the Frisco Trail most likely since mom was a hiker. It will be a fun and challenging couple of days ay the minimum. I will not be taking breaks, so the books and math problems will follow me everywhere. 🙂
My point: Caregiving for a person with dementia is VERY hard. Sandwich Generation caregivers have a bonus challenge: helping their kids too. The life of a caregiver is put on hold, sure…but it is held adding in a multitude of tasks. Mom, without the use of the internet, helped us with math problems and encouraged reading. She loved reading, most notably fun things like the Reader’s Digest and edifying things like Guidepost.
Will I be able to do it more than 36 hours? Unsure. We shall see….But suffice it to say, based on the previous 4 years, it will be a long, grueling and kind of fun time.
Why? Because we need a cure and, until we find one we need more help for the caregivers. The Alzheimer’s Association is doing their best…and I am too.
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On July 2nd, my mom lost her early 15 year fist fight with the disease. Here was her Celebration of Life video:
https://www.tributeslides.com/tributes/show/GPYD347833R2875L
Reckon we’ll give up? Throw in the towel? LOL…nope. It is even more personal now!
2024 was great!!!. It is time to prep for Runnin’ Til I’m Purple V
Here is the recap of the 2024 event! What a blessing!!
Here is my 2023-2024 Longest Day donation page:
https://act.alz.org/site/TR?fr_id=17194&pg=personal&px=14575499
Mercy, it will be a lulu! I am calling this year’s event “A Week of Walkin’ for the Wanderers”. The tentative details are in the donation page. Cliff’s Notes: Back to the Frisco Trail. My plan is to try hard hike the entire trail each day from Monday through Friday. While I won’t be running it this year, I will make up for lack of “speed” by doing it every day. 😉 I am a little beat up from caregiving, working, and the last few years’ events, so walking 37 miles x 5 it is. I have some fun ideas for special days during the week too. Stay tuned! 🙂 Another reason why I am doing it this way is to symbolize the relentless schedule required of a caregiver M-F and beyond. Wash, prince, repeat.
I will post here more and in my regular posts in the blog. I will certainly need your help on this one!
Runnin’ Til I’m Purple III:
Runnin’ the Four Corners
for a Cure (...or #4C4 for short)
*Although technically we could call this “Dad-Bods Unite!”
UPDATE 6/23/23: Preliminary Recap…more to follow! 🙂
https://digitalcornbread.com/longest-days-recap-part-1/
https://digitalcornbread.com/longest-day-recap-2-the-shark-jumping-week/
Have you read The amazingly helpful book The 36 Hour Day by Nancy L. Mace, MA and Peter V Rabins, MD, MPH??
Simple Explanation: 36 Hour Day = 24 in caregiving and another 12 of just trying to live and keep the plates spinning… It is truly a God-send. GREAT BOOK!!! I am thankful for every 36 hour day warrior out there and, despite the fact that I was never able to serve in this capacity, I appreciate and understand your challenge and badly want to help. 🙂
****SO…in this year’s rootin’ tootin’, windmill tilting, shark jumpin’ probably stupid and possibly lethal event, I plan to run/walk/hobble stairs for 9 hours a day for four straight days in June (36 hours total…see what I did there?!?! 🙂 ) over the Summer Solstice for The Longest Day. I will accomplish this at 4 soon-to-be-determined locations at each of the 4 corners of the state of Missouri. I am HOPING some big sporting arenas will share their steps with me. 🙂 I will call this Runnin’ Til I’m Purple event Runnin’ the 4 Corners 4 a Cure or 4C4 for short.
This year I will post SeniorAge Donation links and Alzheimer’s Association Links separately and will tally them on each month on a Scoreboard that I will post on the Digitalcornbread.com website. If you donate to either of them, shoot me an email to mark.applegate@senioragemo.org so I can be sure the donation made it on the board! 🙂
Why this cause? Why dementia??
10+ years ago, at only 65 years old, my mom was diagnosed with what the doctor called a mild form of dementia. We didn’t know much about the disease at the time and were concerned…but things stayed stable for 5-6 years as best we could see. The topic kind of fell off the radar. Honestly, we had no excuse. Our grandma on the same side of the family had the disease. My mom’s brother also developed the disease as well. But we trotted on in relative ignorance…
Then about 3-4 years ago, things took a turn for the (much) worse. It came to a head one day when we were joking around about parenting and I asked mom to show my kids how she used to sound when she would call me in to get in trouble… You know…Mark. Allen. Applegate!!!, you get your rear in here right this minute!!!;. We all use that little phrasing to express anger and urgency in parenting. It is parenting 101, right?!?!. 😉 Well, mom refused even though she is and always has been a good sport. When pressed jokingly, then a bit more urgently, we figured out why she wouldn’t? She couldn’t remember my name. The trajectory continued downward and within months she, in order to be kept safe from wandering and harm in her home, had to become a resident of a local nursing home memory unit. We were able to visit mom almost every day and got to know and love many who have dementia among other conditions. The memory unit squad I refer to as The Sweet 17 ; were the 17 ladies with whom my mom shared a hall. I have written extensively about my mom and them in my blog found at Digitalcornbread.com. Then came COVID-19. 🙁 Now with COVID-19 we are nearly a year removed from regular, face-to-face visits…but we are still doing what we can. My mom has been under hospice care for over a year now, but she is still fighting!! Can I do any less?
I chose this date…the week of the Longest Day of the year because it is the date of the Alzheimer’s Association’s second-biggest fundraiser. I chose the event itself for 2 reasons: 1. Mom loves nature/outdoors, long walks, and adventure. 2. Mom loves to support the underdog…the one who people say “can’t do it”.
Please stand up to the darkness of Alzheimer’s and make a donation today to help the Alzheimer’s Association and SeniorAge support all those facing the disease. To learn more about these wonderful groups, visit their websites at senioragemo.org and alz.org. We WILL beat this thing and finally #EndALZ, or we’ll go purple trying!!!
Donation Note: I will be listing the two amazing non-profits links separately this year and will tally them all up on my scoreboard. 🙂
Thank you very much! Off we go! 🙂
Scoreboard
Alzheimer’s Association: $2050
(6/23 at 5pm)
(Fundraiser ends 6/30/23 at 11:59pm)
Goal: $5280…as always. 😉
SeniorAge: Separate fundraiser this year 🙂
LINK to Donate to My Alzheimer’s Association Event
2022 Event Information
HERE is the link to view the 2022 fundraiser!
I made it 🙂 A little under 12 hours each day…but I did make it to the end. 🙂 The final fundraising tally was incredible! $3690 (half for SeniorAge and half for the Alzheimer’s Association, the two non-profits that mean the most to me!). What an incredible year! Thank you to all who encouraged, who prayed, and who donated. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Our goal was double, as is the number of miles I will run on the June 20-21, 2022 event. 37 miles on day one and then 37 back home on day two! To a skinny, runner-type this would be very hard. However, I still don a dad bod, at best. 🙂 We simply have to cure this thing, and soon. Extreme problems sometimes demand extreme measures. 🙂 The 2022 venue: The Frisco Highline Trail from Bolivar to Springfield, then back the next day.
Can I make it?
Will I jump the two sharks, or could I land in the shark’s mouth?
Will a Bigfoot drag me off the trail in mid-run???
Will I melt? (Forecasted temps: 96-98 degrees)
Will I actually TURN purple?????
Come find out in June. 🙂
Meanwhile, MILLIONS need life-extending treatments. Millions need a cure.
2021 event:
Thank you very much in advance for your support of the 2021 fundraiser! I appreciate you more than you know! We accomplished great things! We raised over $6000 for these two non-profits AND we raised awareness! BUT, there is MUCH more to be done!
Here is some more information about this amazing day in 2021: Link
Here is some great news coverage of our 2021 run: LINK LINK LINK
Note: SeniorAge and The Alzheimer’s Association are not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organizations. All donations are tax-deductible and our donation links are secured. They do an amazing amount of good for tens of thousands of seniors throughout our region.
Here is more about the Alzheimer’s Association: LINK
Here is a little more about SeniorAge. 🙂
Please note: while I do work for SeniorAge, I do this for them and for the Alzheimer’s Association because I care about them. I am not compensated a penny for this time…it is my pleasure to do this on nights and weekends because these two are so amazing! No private jets for me. 😉
I am hoping to find some corporate sponsors for this event. I will also be doing some specialized fundraisers this winter and spring. Stay tuned for those as we go…but for now, please donate on the link at the top of this page. 🙂
I love this video. Mom was telling me, in her own way, that things would be ok.