Christine Davis grew tired of running races and fundraising at the same time. But, in 1999, her mindset changed when she heard about the daughter of a family friend who was struggling with arthritis.
"As soon as there was a younger face involved, I was motivated again," said Davis, who wanted to keep the child's identity private. "[The child] woke up one morning and couldn't walk."
Davis of Duluth ran the 1999 Honolulu Marathon on the behalf of the child and Michele Keane, Davis' Spanish instructor at Lake Superior College, who also had arthritis. She did it through Joints in Motion of the Arthritis Foundation, a group that raises funds and awareness for arthritis.
Davis, 50, hasn't stopped since and will run her fourth Grandma's Marathon on Saturday -- her 19th overall and 17th since Honolulu.
"I got back into marathons partly because the cause took pressure off the personal-best mode," said Davis, who competed in Grandma's in 1984, 1990 and 2006. "There is a different feel as to why I'm doing this."
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Davis is now the community development coordinator for Joints in Motion, which trains people to run and walk marathons and half-marathons and sends them to destinations such as Honolulu, Dublin, Ireland and Orlando, Fla.
"There is a misconception that I learned [I had] when I saw the young lady," Davis said. "You learn about all the types. There are 100 types with kids as young as 15 months suffering, and it's more than the aches and pains we feel when we get older."
In October 2005, Davis thought she might have developed arthritis herself after suffering from a lot of fatigue and aches, but after visiting doctors nothing turned up.
"We tell our runners to know they will be sore because they are putting their body through an endurance event," said Davis, who has also run nine Garry Bjorklund Half-Marathons. "But their pain is going to go away, and for people that have arthritis it might not go away."
Davis won't run for Joints in Motion on Saturday, but she has another cause -- the Gabriel Project through Glen Avon Presbyterian Church and Churches United in Ministry. Glen Avon raised $150 dollars to sponsor Davis and Thrivent Financial will match. Proceeds will benefit Duluthians with housing needs. "When I'm running, I will be thinking about all the volunteers and the people I work with," said Davis, who will wear bib No. 7826 and projects her finish at 4 hours, 30 minutes.
