RUNNING: First-Time Marathoners Tell Their Stories ... Kathy Stegbauer Is
Running For PDF
BY DOUG KURTIS ... FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

October 6, 2004

Six years ago, the Greenies were created to enhance the experience of first-time
marathoners in the Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Bank Marathon. The first-timers
receive a bright green race number so they will be recognized by their fellow
runners and spectators.

This year's marathon will be run Oct. 24. Here are a few stories behind the
hundreds of greenies who will compete:

• Jessica Bomarito, 28, Farmington Hills. She was inspired a few years ago after
watching a friend run the Chicago Marathon. Her motivations are personal, and all
of the training has helped get her life back on track. As a poet, Jessica has found
that "the repetitiveness of running fuels my creativity. I notice all the little nuances of
life around me as I run and have been able to feed that into my poetry." Her
boyfriend has been her biggest supporter, encouraging her after long runs with the
words: "the champion is home."

• Kathy Stegbauer, 37, Southgate. The race will have special meaning because she
is running for the Parkinson's Foundation after her dad was diagnosed with the
disease two years ago. Stegbauer kept running through three pregnancies up until
birth, then resumed on the treadmill until the kids were ready for a baby jogger.

"My biggest motivator was introducing myself to another runner/mom at my kids
school," she said. "We are fortunate that we can run together during the day." Mort
Crim's Second Thoughts column about a runner who accidentally ran a marathon
helped form her words of encouragement. Crim said, "Sometimes we don't know
how far we can go until we've already gone the distance."

• David Kent Lawson, 36, Raleigh, N.C. "In high school I was in a band, not on the
football field. In college, I was in the bar, not in the weight room. My wife who had
run numerous marathons gave me a little kick in the butt for inspiration. Sometimes I
wish she just collected stamps."

Lawson graduated from Central Michigan and can't wait to see Detroit again after
just six months of training. "Yikes!"

• Leslie Travis, 51, Livonia. She ran her first race 15 years ago on Belle Isle. Her
husband, who is also running the marathon, has slowed his pace to help encourage
her. "I love running while I'm doing it and the feeling afterward," she said. "It's still
surprising that I often need to push myself to get out the door. My family is in awe of
my desire. My non-running friends think I'm nuts."

• Kelly Jost, 27, Plymouth. She was part of a five-person relay two years ago. Jost
witnessed the crowd cheering especially loud for the greenies and wanted to share
the experience with her first-time marathoner husband, James.

After eight years of running exciting races like the Mackinac Bridge run, she is
looking forward to crossing the Ambassador Bridge into Canada.

Contact DOUG KURTIS at Detroit Free Press, 600 W. Fort St., Detroit 48226 or
[log in to unmask]

The Free Press/Flagstar Bank Marathon will be Oct. 24; for more information, go to
http://www.freep.com/marathon

SOURCE: Detroit Free Press, MI
http://www.freep.com/sports/othersports/kurtis6e_20041006.htm

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