Spotlight - Christopher Woltering

Each week we will be picking members to spotlight to tell their Alzheimer's story and why they are running in this year's New York City marathon. Check in each day for new updates on who will be spotlighted and get to know your teammates...(each person is picked at random)

"The memories I have of my Nana always bring a smile to my face. I can still clearly see her sitting in the same area at the town pool with her friends on Summer weekends, only getting up for a few minutes each hour to cool off with a quick dip in the water. I can still hear and see her chatting on the phone in her chair in the dining room, cigarette next to her billowing smoke, as she chatted for hours with her friends and family, her and my Papa hosting card games at their house and hearing the voices and laughter make their way to my room, or my Nana heading off to attend a meeting for the various civic organizations she participated in several times a week.

Unfortunately, these memories and many others are really all I have left. Even though my Nana is still with us, Alzheimer's has robbed me and my family of the loving, strong and socially active and engaged woman we loved and created the challenging and emotionally draining task of providing daily, loving care to a woman who can no longer care for herself, a task which has been assumed by mother.

It's a tremendous and humbling privilege to have been selected to run in the 2014 NYC Marathon for the Athletes to End Alzheimer's. I'm running to honor my Nana, to honor the sacrifices of my mother, to run with such an amazing group of people who have been affected by Alzheimer's in one way or another. I also wish to raise awareness of the devastating impact Alzheimer's has on individuals and on families."