Family puts best feet forward for 28.3-mile hike

EAST COUNTY — Jim and Mary Jo Baar and their daughter, Amanda, know it will be a challenge to keep moving their feet May 16, as they progress on a 28.3-mile hike on the Foothills Trails in South Carolina.

But they aren’t thinking about their pain.

“I’m doing this for my brothers,” Amanda Baar said. “This is my way to give back to them as their older sister. They mean everything to me.”

Both of her brothers are in remission from cancer: Joey, 13, for leukemia, and Matthew, 16, for abdominal cancer. They’re the reasons the family will participate in their first physical event for cancer research May 16: a 28.3-mile hike in South Carolina to raise money for pediatric cancer research.

“The pain we’ll go through is no comparison to the three-and-a-half years Joey went through treatments and Matthew’s multiple surgeries and high doses of chemo,” Jim Baar said. “Those boys are strong. If they can make it, we can make it through those miles — piece of cake.”

So far, the Baares have raised $5,000 through a website created by CureSearch for Children’s Cancer, a national nonprofit organization that hosts four fitness events annually to fund cancer research.

It also provides educational resources and support for families battling the disease.

The group’s goal is to raise $150,000, and individuals have raised more than $87,000 so far.

Sixty-five attendees will complete the stretch, which winds through valleys,  forests and other terrain. 

The Baars are the only East County residents participating, according to CureSearch’s website.

The walk will begin at 3 a.m., and Amanda Baar predicts the family will finish the trail in approximately 10 hours if they can maintain a pace of 3.5 mph. They plan to finish by 3 p.m.

To train for the event, Amanda Baar has been focusing on cardio-heavy workouts at the gym. Jim Baar made early morning rides on his stationary bike a staple in his fitness routine, which also includes walking multiple times per week.

Just last week, Mary Jo Baar decided to join them.

The Baars know the real reasons they’re walking the walk.

 “When you have a child diagnosed with cancer, your life changes,” Jim Baar said. “Your family, everything changes. And it’s not a gradual change. It’s instant.”

The Baars agree the hike is the least they can do.

“(This hike) allows us to pay a good deed forward,” Jim Baar said. “We’re a small fish in the cancer world, but if we can make a difference and continue to raise money, then maybe someday a parent won’t have to hear a doctor tell them that their child has cancer. That’s how we win.”

“If we can make a difference and continue to raise money, then maybe someday a parent won’t have to hear a doctor tell them that their child has cancer,”

– Jim Baar