The Alzheimer’s Association, Cleveland Chapter, will hold its 2025 Walk to End Alzheimer's at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo this Saturday, Oct. 18. Participants and organizers alike say the nationwide walk is more than just the world's largest event to raise awareness and money for Alzheimer's care, support and research. It's a celebration of hope around breakthroughs in Alzheimer's research and treatment.

The annual walk is expected to draw close to 4,000 participants, says Seana Dailey, senior director of development with the Cleveland chapter of the Alzheimer's Association.

"It's fun, it's hopeful, it's inspiring,” she says. “It's just a really special day."

The nationwide Walk to End Alzheimer's is the world's largest event to raise awareness and money for Alzheimer's care, support, and research.Walk for the cause, celebrate the season
Walk participants have two walking routes to choose from—a one-mile route and a three-mile route—making the event more accessible to participants of all fitness levels.

All registered participants receive wristbands for full-day zoo access. "Once they register and they get their wristbands, they’ll have access to the zoo all day,” Dailey says. “This will just give them a little bit more to enjoy."

Additionally, October is Boo at the Zoo time, with decorated paths, Halloween-themed experiences, trick-or-treating, and costumed characters.

“One thing that I'm excited for this year that's a little different and complementing the [Walk to End Alzheimer’s] is Boo at the Zoo,” Dailey admits. “Participants can stay and enjoy it, and it will add a little bit more throughout the event with the Kids Zone this year, then we'll have the Hay Bale Maze, because [the Zoo will] have that set up.”

Funding critical research
The money raised from the walk supports both immediate family services and long-term research goals. "The Alzheimer's association is the largest nonprofit funder of Alzheimer's research," Dailey notes, "so the funds raised at the walk not only help us provide those free care and support services to families who are in the throes of it right now, but it really helps us move those critical research efforts forward too."

The Walk to End Alzheimer's at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.Additionally, Alzheimer’s Association Walk organizers offer various fundraising incentives—starting with an official walk t-shirt for raising $100. At $500, participants enter the Champions Club and receive a walk medal, while higher levels include Grand Champion ($1,000) and Elite Grand Champion ($2,500).

Dailey says some of the additional incentives include speakers, coolers, umbrellas, and backpacks. "You get incentives along the way," she says. "We have some really fun stuff—different things that you can choose from as you hit these different fundraising milestones."

Game changing new treatments
The 2025 walk comes at an exciting time in Alzheimer's research, says Dailey, with new treatments offering hope for patients and families affected by the disease.

She explains that researchers have now developed treatments that go beyond managing symptoms to actually slow disease progression in early-stage patients.

"We're seeing some treatments for those in the early stages of the disease that can actually change underlying biology of the disease,” says Dailey. “[These treatments are] giving people more time in those early stages, which is really exciting."

The new treatments represent a fundamental shift in how the people in the medical field approach Alzheimer's care.

"Before these recent treatments, the medications we had were really just treating the symptoms of the disease— they weren't necessarily slowing the progression of the disease,” explains Dailey. “But that's what these new treatments do—slow the progression—which is a huge first step toward finding a cure for this disease."

However, Dailey stresses that these new treatments are specifically designed for early-stage patients, making early detection more critical than ever.

"They're not for everyone, they really are for those early stage patients,” she says. “So it's really important that we continue to raise awareness around early detection so that people have the opportunity to use these treatments."

Research pipeline shows promise
Symbolic colored flowers honors those affected by Alzheimer's disease.The momentum in Alzheimer's research extends beyond current treatments. Dailey, who has worked with the Alzheimer's Association for 11 years, has seen recent progress in both research and treatments.

"I think in the next year or two a lot more is going to come out,” she says. “That is really exciting stuff, and now there are so many different clinical trials in the pipeline.”

Dailey says she is intrigued by early results from the Alzheimer's Association’s U.S. POINTER study (U.S. Study to Protect Brain Health Through Lifestyle Intervention to Reduce Risk), which examines how lifestyle interventions can impact brain health for those at risk of developing Alzheimer's, as well as several other factors.

“It looks at sleep, it looks at exercise, it looks at diet, it looks at controlling other conditions like cardiovascular and blood pressure, and how they work together to really pave our brain health," she says. "So far we're seeing how much of an impact some of these interventions can have on our brain health and really changing the trajectory of it."

A message of hope
The research advances have transformed the organization's message to families facing Alzheimer's. Dailey recalled a recent visit from an association researcher who she says perfectly captured the marker in the fight to end Alzheimer’s Disease.

"One of the things he said that really stuck with me was, ‘for years hope was on the horizon, but now it's here,’” she quotes. "It's just been really incredible over the past three to five years, the progress that has been made and how all these years of research are finally coming together and we're starting to see the results."

Join the movement
The nationwide Walk to End Alzheimer's is the world's largest event to raise awareness and money for Alzheimer's care, support, and research.The 4,000 people planning to walk this Saturday, Oct. 18 are determined to keep the momentum moving in a positive direction.

The 2025 Walk to End Alzheimer's begins Saturday morning at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, 3900 Wildlife Way, Cleveland, 44109. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. and the walk begins at 9 a.m.

Before the walkers start their journey, the Promise Garden Ceremony will be held at 8:45 a.m.

The mission-focused ceremony honors those affected by Alzheimer's disease by laying symbolic colored flowers to represent different personal connections to the disease:

• Blue for people living with Alzheimer's or dementia.
• Yellow for caregivers.
• Purple in memory of someone lost to the disease.
• Orange for advocates or general supporters.
• A white flower symbolizes the first survivor of Alzheimer's, representing hope for a future without the disease.

Get involved in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Can’t do the walk this year? Donate to the Cleveland Chapter.