Kaua‘i will be the third stop on two ladies’ attempt at a new world record. CarolAnn Garratt of Ocala, Fla., and Carol Foy of Spicewood, Texas, are planning to leave Orlando, Fla., tomorrow, on a seven-day around-the-world dash to help
Kaua‘i will be the third stop on two ladies’ attempt at a new world record.
CarolAnn Garratt of Ocala, Fla., and Carol Foy of Spicewood, Texas, are planning to leave Orlando, Fla., tomorrow, on a seven-day around-the-world dash to help raise funds and raise awareness for Amoyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Sue Kanoho, the director of the Kaua‘i Visitors Bureau, said, “Roger Cable brought this to my attention. It is a unique event.”
According to the two ladies’ timetable laid out on a Dash for a Cure Web site, they will be landing at the Lihu‘e Airport around midnight, Thursday.
Following a few hours at a nearby resort, the pair plan to be back at the Lihu‘e Airport around 7:30 Friday morning to take off on their next leg of the world record attempt which will take the pair to Guam.
Kanoho and Cable said they are working to see if Kaua‘i can gather a few dollars for a donation to their cause to be presented in the morning before the ladies leave on the third stage of their around-the-world record quest.
Garratt, who lost her mother to ALS in 2002, lives at a fly-in community near Ocala, Fla., while Foy, who has a family member who was diagnosed with ALS in 2007, lives at a fly-in community near Austin, Texas.
Garratt, after losing her mother to ALS in 2002, flew her Mooney around the world in 2003 in an attempt to raise awareness and donations for the ALS fight and is attempting to better that flight on this trip.
That trip covered 31,643 nautical miles before side trips and involved 226 flying hours spread out over seven months.
Foy is no stranger to aviation, having won the 2006 Air Race Classic, an all-female cross country airplane race covering 2,478 miles, in a Mooney Ovation aircraft. She will contribute the speed component to the partnership on this trip.
Locally, Cable has been affected by ALS after a family member was diagnosed with the disease.
This westbound trip will start in Central Florida near Orlando and proceed west across the United States to San Diego, across the Pacific Ocean to Kaua‘i and Guam, to Bangkok, Thailand. From Thailand, the pair will continue to India, the Middle East, Africa and finally across the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean and return to Orlando.
The second leg of the ladies’ trip, San Diego to Lihu‘e, covers 2,334 nautical miles, taking advantage of 15 to 25 knot tailwinds. This leg is estimated to take 15 hours at an altitude of 6,000 to 10,000 feet.
Kaua‘i was selected because the ladies need to stop as far west in Hawai‘i to reduce the distance to Guam, the next leg on the trip.
Lou Gehrig’s disease is a progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disease that attacks the motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord.
In the Dash for a Cure Web site, it states that more than 350,000 people worldwide are afflicted with ALS, the cause of which is still unknown.
Ninety percent of patients diagnosed with ALS die within five years since there is no cure. Currently, the disease has no prejudice — attacking anyone despite age, ethnicity or gender.
ALS is one of the most devastating disorders that affects the function of nerves and muscles. Based on U.S. population studies, more than 5,600 people in America are diagnosed with ALS each year, or 15 new cases a day.
Lou Gehrig first brought national and international attention to the disease back in 1939 when he retired from baseball after being diagnosed with ALS.
Other notable individuals whose lives were cut short by ALS include Hall of Fame pitcher Jim “Catfish” Hunter, actor Michael Zaslow, creator of Sesame Street Jon Stone, actor David Niven, boxing champion Ezzard Charles, pro football player Glenn Montgomery and Sen. Jacob Javits.
The two ladies’ goal for this world trip is $1,000,000.
For more information on the Dash, visit the Web site www.alsworldflight.com. To help Kanoho and Cable’s request for a gift for the ladies, call Kanoho at 245-3971.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com
