The Wasatch Back Walk to End Alzheimer's will start at the Swaner Nature Preserve and EcoCenter on Saturday, Sept. 7.
It’s a two-mile walk along the trail from the preserve to the White Barn and back to the Basin Recreation Fieldhouse.
Walkers will start gathering at 9 a.m. before a short ceremony at 10 a.m. and the walk begins right after.
Glenn Seymour, one of the organizers of the event, said more than 200 people have already registered.
He said the walk is free, but participants are encouraged to fundraise.
“Interestingly, we actually have more people signed up right now than Salt Lake City does," Seymour said. “Park City is an important part of Utah's both participation and fundraising.”
He says the goal is to raise $160,000 from the Wasatch Back.
“Part of it stays here in Utah, but a lot of it goes to the national organization,” Seymour said. “The Alzheimer's organization is the No. 1 nonprofit supporter of research in the world for Alzheimer's. They also have a 24/7 helpline that can provide free assistance to anyone 365 days a year to start answering questions about how you can take care of relatives, or what to do if you think you might have Alzheimer's.”
In the last year, he said there have been some promising findings with new medications that slow the progression of the disease and find better ways to detect it.
“It used to be that the only way you could find out someone had Alzheimer's was after they died,” he said. “Now with neurological exams, they can help diagnose that. They're working on blood tests that would allow you to take a non-invasive blood test and detect Alzheimer's. And so that's very promising.”
Donations fund critical care, support services and research efforts aimed at finding a cure.
