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Date: FRI 01/16/04 Section: SPORTS Page: 1 Edition: 3 STAR CHARITABLE SOLE MATES / Couple solicit donations forcause By MEGAN MANFULL Staff Stephanie Reger hates to admit it, but she really never thought about the Houston Marathon before. She never thought of it as an event, at least. It was more an inconvenience that blocked off her street for one day every year. "It goes in front of our house, but I don't think I've ever paid attention to it," said Reger, who lives on Montrose. "No offense, to the marathon people. Literally, it goes in front of our house, and in the past, it's been one of those things where you go out and you go, `Oh God, I can't get across my street. We need to go back this way.' That's my experience with the marathon." Not anymore. Reger won't be home to worry about the roadblocks on Montrose on Sunday. Instead, she will roll out of bed long before she wants to and put on all the warm clothes she can find. Then, she will head downtown with her husband, Simon Stanaway, and prepare to take part in their first marathon events. Reger is intimidated by the phrase "run marathon." But she will walk in the 5K event, while her husband runs and walks his way through the half-marathon. They are not worried about how long it takes them or how many people finish in front of them. They are only participating in hopes of helping raise money for Child Advocates Inc., the nonprofit organization that helps make sure abused children in Harris County do not get overlooked in the foster-care system. The organization hopes to raise $30,000 Sunday. Reger was only going to work on the marathon committee for Child Advocates , where she is a volunteer. But when someone pointed out that she could participate without running in the HP Houston Marathon, Reger jumped at the opportunity. "I hear `run marathon' and I'm just not interested," Reger said. "Once I figured out you could walk the 5K, I thought, not only can I do this but a lot of people can do this. At Child Advocates , we have actually been trying to focus our later efforts on going, `Hey, let's just get a group of people to walk together.' " Their efforts have paid off. Last year, about 40 people ran and raised $18,000 for Child Advocates . They have twice as many runners this year and would be thrilled to double their donations. The increase would make a big impact on the organization. The number of children in foster care last year in Harris County exceeded 4,100. Child Advocates was only able to help fewer than half of them because of budget restraints. It costs $1,780 to serve one child per year. Reger hopes to make a difference this weekend by continuing to recruit as many people as she can for running or walking. Her idea of using the 5K and half-marathon to lure unlikely participants has worked. Her neighbors signed up to walk with her, as did her stepmother and two stepsisters. The most surprising person to sign up was her father, Gary Reger. "I was dead shocked," she said. "He's an attorney (in Beaumont) who works seven days a week. I mean, it's just his normal mode of action. It's really surprising. He's working on a brief right now, and he sent out some e-mails to get donations. He sent a thank-you note back to another attorney and he copied me on it. It read, `We need to get the brief in good shape by Friday in case I die over the weekend, which requires a continuance.' I'm like, `It's the 5K!' " Reger's husband can relate to her father's concerns. Stanaway wishes he hadn't been quite so ambitious when his wife gave him the option of participating in the full marathon, half-marathon or 5K. Even though he always has been athletic, running never has been his sport. "At the time, it was an ambitious challenge since I've gotten unfit over the last couple of years," Stanaway said. "I wanted to do something that would challenge me a little bit more." Stanaway said he never has run more than six or seven miles in his life - and did not have as much time to train for the 13.1-mile race as he had hoped. He knows it will be hard to part with Reger and their friends when race time arrives. Reger, on the other hand, has no reservations. She is not even worried about the possibility of rain and 40-degree temperatures. But she is worried about Stanaway. "The great thing about walking is we're doing it in groups," she said. "Even if it's raining and cold, we're doing it together. Miserable things are better in groups. Poor Simon will be on his own. By mile 7, you're going to be saying, `I don't know why I didn't sign up for the 5K.' " . . . HP HOUSTON MARATHON When: 7 a.m. Sunday. Where: Course begins and ends at the George R. Brown Convention Center and goes through downtown, the Heights, Montrose, Rice and West University. . . . Marathon course, closures Street closures LaBranch/Elysian (all lanes) from Dallas to Quitman. Crawford/Elysian (all lanes) from Dallas to Quitman. Quitman (all lanes) from Elysian to White Oak. White Oak (all lanes) to Michaux. Michaux (all lanes) from White Oak to Merrill. Merrill (all lanes) from Michaux to Studewood. Studewood to Studemont to Montrose (all lanes) from Merrill to Mecom Fountain. South Main (southbound lanes only) from Mecom Fountain to University. University (all lanes) closed from South Main to Weslayan. Weslayan (all lanes) from University to Bissonnet. Weslayan (northbound lanes only) from Bissonnet to Westpark. Westpark (all lanes) from Weslayan to Newcastle. Newcastle (northbound lanes and easternmost southbound lane) from Westpark to U.S. 59 feeder (southbound). U.S. 59 feeder (southbound) to Loop 610 feeder (northbound) between Newcastle and Richmond. Richmond (westbound lanes only) from Loop 610 feeder (northbound) to Post Oak. Post Oak (northbound lanes only) from Richmond to San Felipe. San Felipe (westbound lanes only) from Post Oak to Tanglewood. Tanglewood (northbound lanes only) from San Felipe to Chimney Rock. Chimney Rock (northbound lanes only) from Tanglewood to Woodway. Woodway (eastbound lanes only) closed from Chimney Rock to Loop 610. Woodway/Memorial Drive (eastbound lanes only) from Loop 610 to Shepherd. Shepherd (all lanes under overpass) from Memorial Drive to Allen Parkway. Allen Parkway (westbound lanes only) from Shepherd to Bagby. Lamar (all lanes) from Bagby to George R. Brown Convention Center. . . . Ramp closures U.S. 59 South, exit ramp at Newcastle. 610 West Loop, southbound, exit ramp at Richmond. West Loop, northbound, exit ramp at Woodway/Memorial.
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