One race, many rewards

Feet crossing the finish line will be the big payoff for most runners of Grandma's Marathon on Saturday.

For a handful of runners, however, the reward is not in the running. It's in the running to give.

To a friend.

To a stranger.

To the people they left behind when they cleaned up their lives.

Here are a few of Saturday's runners racing for others.

Churches United in Ministry employee Doug Happy knows how it feels to need help.

The former alcoholic and drug user began running, in part, to help straighten out his life.

Now, for his 18th and final Grandma's Marathon, Happy is running to raise money for a pair of organizations that help people in Duluth who are struggling.

He's trying to raise at least $1,200 for CHUM's Gabriel Project and the Duluth school district's homeless student education fund. In both cases, the money will go toward paying for the little items that help people get by.

In the case of the Gabriel Project, the money will help families pay for gas vouchers, bus passes and medication co-payments, among other items.

Happy also has spent a few years working with students in danger of dropping out of Duluth schools, so he's donating the other half of what he collects to helping homeless students.

"It's something that definitely is needed," he said.

He'd like his donation to help those who need things like a pair of shoes for gym or money for a school field trip.

"He wanted to go out with a bang, and this was a good way to do that," said Veronica Gaidelis-Langer, a social worker with the Gabriel Project.

For the last six years, runners have picked up the cause of the Gabriel Project.

"It is our biggest fundraiser of the year," Langer said.

* For Sherry Joseph, of Plymouth, Wis., her first marathon was about herself.

"That was all about me, and just about surviving," Joseph said.

Her second marathon, on Saturday, will be different.

"I wanted it to be not so much about me," she said.

For her, Grandma's Marathon will be about a little boy named Gabe Otte.

The son of a woman she went to dentistry school with, Gabe can't hear, or eat through his mouth, due to birth defects.

"It's close to my heart because I have five young kids. You take for granted their health," she said.

In honor of Gabe, the money she's raising will go to the March of Dimes.

"It's far more successful than I thought it would be," Joseph said.

Though she hoped to raise $2,000, she's already up to $7,500.

* After five years of watching friends run Grandma's Marathon, Julianne Vasichek, a former University of Minnesota Duluth hockey player and current strength and conditioning coach, didn't want to spend another year on the sidelines.

But she also didn't want to run purely for running's sake. So after her dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer last October, she decided to raise money for the Prostate Cancer Foundation

She tracked down an organization called Athletes for a Cure, which teams up with runners in large events to give them a method of raising money.

The organization helps runners set up a Web site, so donors can contribute online or send in a check. In addition, Vasichek got 15 of her friends running in either the full marathon or half-marathon Saturday to raise money as well, and she held a silent auction through eBay.

Though she's a woman, she didn't think it at all odd to raise money for prostate cancer.

"I feel like there's so many people who have had grandparents or others who suffer from it," she said, including her own grandfather and father.

Here's the pitch on her fundraising page:

"Heart, bravery, courage, perseverance, strength. These terms define the Finnish word Sisu, our team name. These terms also describe the characteristics of the individuals that battle prostate cancer. On June 16th, 26.2 miles will symbolize my own battle against prostate cancer, for my dad, grandpa, my two brothers, and all the others who have or may encounter this challenge," she wrote.

Although she'd like to raise $25,000, she has no clue how much money has been raised among her 15 friends.

"It's just going to be one big surprise on the final number," she said.

Whether it's prostate cancer, money in honor of a sick boy, or just buying a kid a pair of shoes, it's really about making the race mean more, say the runners.

"It's just one more good thing to happen at a marathon," Joseph said.

PATRICK GARMOE covers the Duluth community and city government. He can be reached weekdays at (218) 723-5229 or at pgarmoe@duluthnews.com .