Martin family teams with Alzheimer's Project to honor Mike Martin, raise dementia awareness
Carol Martin has her signature hat picked out for Saturday’s “Run for the Roses” at Bradley’s Pond.
“I am wearing a wide-brim hat with lots of feathers, flowers and bows,” Martin said.
The Martin family has teamed up with the Alzheimer’s Project to honor the legacy of legendary Florida State baseball coach Mike Martin and to help others faced with challenges associated with dementia.
Martin, who won an NCAA Division I record 2,029 games in 40 seasons with the Seminoles, died Feb. 1, 2024, after a three-year battle with dementia.
He was 79.
Tickets can be purchased ($125) for the first annual event.
Legendary FSU baseball coach Mike Martin diagnosed with dementia in 2021
Scheduled from 5 to 9 p.m., 'Run for the Roses' will feature food, fashion, music, mint juleps and the broadcast of the 150th annual Kentucky Derby from Churchill Downs in Louisville.
Carol Martin said the Alzheimer’s Project and event are close to her heart after watching her husband’s battle with Lewy Body dementia.
“We know what a struggle it is,” Martin said. “We are very much behind this organization and anyone who is on the frontlines. … it’s not easy.”
In October 2023 in an interview with the Tallahassee Democrat, Carol Martin – Mike’s wife of 58 years – shared Martin’s dementia diagnosis for the first time publicly.
She also revealed her husband had been initially diagnosed with the disease in the summer of 2021, two years into his retirement.
The family watched Martin experience changes in attention, alertness and behavior, Carol said.
An estimated crowd of 2,500, including more than 350 former players and the current FSU baseball team, filled the grandstands at Howser Stadium Saturday, Feb 10, for Martin’s Celebration of Life.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU baseball coach Mike Martin to be honored at Kentucky Derby event
