ANN ARBOR -- Fighting Alzheimer’s disease is the mission for Tim Welbaum and Scott Doney.

An Army Reserve major who served in Afghanistan, Welbaum is a board member of the Michigan Great Lakes Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association and owner of the South Central Michigan branch of Visiting Angels, an at-home senior care service.

Welbaum’s first experience with the horrors of Alzheimer’s was with his grandmother. Becoming a home care provider helped him realize how many others are dealing with the disease and its consequences, he said.

“It took Alzheimer’s, which I thought was something just my family was struggling with, and it kind of shined a light on just how common it was,” Welbaum said.

Last year, Welbaum and Doney, his office director and right-hand man, drew from their time as Army buddies to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association, which offers information, support and advocacy in addition to research, Welbaum said. Welbaum and Doney decided to “ruck march" from the Visiting Angels office in Adrian to the Alzheimer’s Association office in Ann Arbor, eventually raising more than $68,000 through the year, more than double their initial goal of $33,000.

This year, they decided to do it again, with a fundraising goal of $70,000. Welbaum and Doney made the long march Friday, this time joined by Marine vet Brad Baker, Air Force vet Josh Wood and Army vet Cody Dilyard.

The group left Adrian around 2 a.m., reaching the finish line in Ann Arbor around 3:40 p.m.

The most Welbaum ever ruck marched in the military was around 20 miles, he said. For the march between Adrian and Ann Arbor, the group marched roughly 34, all along carrying 35 to 40 pounds on their backs.

He compared the baggage to a tick: It sucks the energy right out of you, he said.

“That pain, again, is nowhere close to what each of the families we serve and their loved ones struggle and battle with every day,” Welbaum said. “That’s the least I could do."

The group shed blood and sweat for the cause: Wood, Dilyard and Doney endured injuries during the march. All three wanted to keep going, Welbaum said, until he made the call to have them driven ahead about 30 miles in.

While Doney was frustrated that he couldn’t finish, he said he’d have done it again knowing it would end the same.

“No matter what, even if I didn’t fully finish, everybody knows where my heart and compassion is for,” Doney said. “That money goes towards a great cause, towards research and development and also towards programs and services that they offer to family members.”

While Welbaum and his fellow vets will remain passionate about fundraising and supporting the association, he can’t say the march will become an annual event, he said.

"I’m not certain my body can continue long-term,” Welbaum said. “I’m realizing more and more as I age that I’m no longer superman.”

The South Central Michigan Visiting Angels was the top fundraising franchise of about 650 nationally in 2018, Doney said, taking home $25,000 in extra donations for their efforts. They’re pushing to keep the top spot this year.

This year’s effort has raised about $20,000 thus far, which is about on par with last year, Welbaum said. The group will continue to raise funds through the end of November. Donations can be made here.

“Most military people, I’d say we all have big hearts,” Welbaum said. “That heart will push and drive you to accomplish things you never know you could.”