{"id":8529,"date":"2016-10-06T19:55:53","date_gmt":"2016-10-06T23:55:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hagarty-on-wine.com\/OnWineBlog\/?p=8529"},"modified":"2016-10-06T19:55:53","modified_gmt":"2016-10-06T23:55:53","slug":"weekend-warriors-in-search-of-a-cure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hagarty-on-wine.com\/OnWineBlog\/weekend-warriors-in-search-of-a-cure\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekend Warriors in search of a cure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fighting childhood cancer one hike at a time<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a test of endurance. A rugged, mountainous 21-mile hike in the Dolly Sods Wilderness in West Virginia. In one day.<\/p>\n

For the participating hikers the aching feet and sore thighs are a small price to pay knowing they are contributing to a cure for childhood cancer.<\/p>\n

Perhaps no tragedy is more painful than the loss of a child. In addition to the arduous walk, some of the hikers carry heavy memories of their deceased young ones as they climb and descend the rolling landscape.<\/p>\n

\"Jim

Jim Carson<\/p><\/div>\n

The spirit and energy behind one of several of these Mid-Atlantic annual adventures is Jim Carson. Carson is managing partner of Carson, Ashley & Associates, an engineering and surveying firm in Warrenton.<\/p>\n

He is also founder of a hiking club called Boots \u2019n Beer<\/a><\/span>. After each hike, members adjourn to a local pub to rehydrate with a brew. The club\u2019s motto, \u201cA drinking club with a hiking problem\u201d underscores the fun and health-conscious theme of the organization.<\/p>\n

Three years ago Carson realized his club also held the potential to support worthwhile causes. He created Boots \u2018n Beer Charities, a not-for-profit entity, created in part by the loss of his son, Devin, at the age of six from leukemia.<\/p>\n

The first charity the hiking club chose to support was CureSearch, a national organization committed to finding a cure for childhood cancers. One segment of the organization\u2019s fundraising efforts is called Ultimate Hike. Carson found a perfect link with his Boots \u2018n Beer Charities.<\/p>\n

The coach & the hiker
\n<\/strong>Since his son\u2019s death in 2005, Carson has personally raised over $50,000 in a variety of endeavors to find a cure for blood cancers. But when CureSearch\u2019s Ultimate Hike crossed his path, he and fellow club member, Andreas Keller, became coaches supporting those who wished to undertake the marathon hike.<\/p>\n

One of their prized trainees is Annie Gould. To clarify, she was a trainee, but is no longer.<\/p>\n

Gould, 60, lives in Barboursville and lost her 14-year-old daughter, Eloise, to sarcoma in 2014. Since her daughter\u2019s death she has raised $250,000 to support a cure search, mostly through walks in the Charlottesville area.<\/p>\n

\"Annie

Annie Gould, left, takes a break with fellow hikers.<\/p><\/div>\n

But Gould loves challenges and when she met Carson their mutual interests sparked a desire to ratchet up her physical endurance goals. She signed up for the grueling Dolly Sods hike and enlisted the support of two other people to hike with her.<\/p>\n

Carson and Keller then set in motion a series of increasingly difficult training hikes for the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnnie is amazing. She started out on our first training hike averaging 1.1 miles an hour and successfully completed the 21-mile hike,\u201d Keller said.<\/p>\n

All of the hikers regularly met at a central location, then motored together to the Shenandoah National Park to break both a sweat and time trial records.<\/p>\n

Last fall her efforts reaped its rewards when she and her hiking teammates contributed $10,000 to CureSearch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of what I\u2019ve achieved and consider it an honor to be doing something to find a cure. I do it for my surviving daughter, my nieces and nephews. I want to find a cure for childhood cancers and the only way to do it is through more and more research,”Gould said.<\/p>\n

With hundreds of people dedicated to Ultimate Hike in the Mid-Atlantic region, Gould\u2019s dream will hopefully be realized in the not-to-distant future.<\/p>\n

Today, Gould serves on the Board of Directors of CureSearch in addition to raising money for the charity.<\/p>\n

To contribute to Annie Gould\u2019s \u201cRemembering Eloise\u201d team visit: \u00a0http:\/\/www.ultimatehike.com\/dollysods\/rememberingeloise<\/a><\/span> and follow the Ultimate Hike link.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 So how\u2019d they do?<\/strong><\/p>\n

On August 13, 2016 Annie Gould\u2019s \u201cRemembering Eloise\u201d team completed their second arduous 21-mile Ultimate Hike in West Virginia\u2019s Dolly Sods Wilderness Area. Gould\u2019s coaches Jim Carson and Andreas Keller also crossed the finish line.<\/p>\n

Given the heat wave that blistered the east coast that day, it was a significant accomplishment, creating over 90,000 foot falls per hiker through the remote mountain terrain.<\/p>\n

By participating in the hiking fundraiser Gould and her small team raised $7,000 for CureSearch. The entire 40 registered hikers raised $114,700.<\/p>\n

Congratulations to the sore feet brigade!<\/p>\n

For information on the CureSearch Ultimate Hike visit: http:\/\/www.curesearchevents.org\/site\/TR?fr_id=1113&pg=entry<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Published in the Fall 2016 edition of inFauquier magazine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fighting childhood cancer one hike at a time It\u2019s a test of endurance. A rugged, mountainous 21-mile hike in the Dolly Sods Wilderness in West Virginia. In one day. For the participating hikers the aching feet and sore thighs are a small price to pay knowing they are contributing to a cure for childhood cancer. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[5],"tags":[912,622,892,910,911,891,909,655],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n