They’ve never run in a marathon before, but Lake Orion couple Steven and Tracy Steffgen will be doing their first one for a good cause.
The Steffgens, who attend St. Mary’s-in-the-Hills Episcopal Church, one of 19 churches that make up the North Oakland Circle of Faith, plan to run in The Detroit Free Press Flagstar Bank Marathon on Oct. 23.
They are taking pledges for their efforts, which will go towards the Circle of Faith’s Habitat for Humanity house.
The Steffgens have already worked on two Habitat homes with the group, both located in the Pontiac area.
‘They need $65,000 to build a house,? Tracy said.
In addition to raising money for Habitat, Steven hopes to quality for the Boston Marathon.
‘This marathon is from Comerica Park to Windsor and back around, in Detroit,? said Tracy. ‘We’ve never run a marathon before.?
Steven has been a runner all his life, but Tracy said she just took up the sport after she quit smoking five years ago.
‘I needed to start exercising,? she said. ‘We started running in Race for the Cure six years ago.?
They heard about a half marathon (13 miles) in Detroit, and ran that before running another half marathon in Dallas in April.
In that race, Steven finished in fifth place for his age group.
The Steffgens, who moved to Lake Orion from Florida seven years ago, have worked with the Circle of Faith on Habitat for Humanity for the past three years. They said they had been planning to run in the marathon anyway.
‘Everyone kept asking what we were doing it for,? said Tracy.
The Steffgens are just starting their fundraising efforts, and will be accepting donations for Habitat for Humanity up until the race in October, and probably even for a short time after, Steven said.
They hope to get some corporate donations from their employers. Steven is director of operations for Tim Hortons, and Tracy works for Mortgage One in Warren.
‘We have a lot of support from people at our businesses,? Steven said. ‘Our mini-goal is to raise $2,500.?
Tracy said the next Habitat house that the Circle of Faith works on could start in March of 2006.
‘The Orion/Oxford group raised money for the first house we did, and then last year, our Circle of Faith joined with North Oakland County, so now there are 19 churches involved,? she said.
The new homeowners must help build the home, putting in at least 250 hours of ‘sweat equity,? Tracy said.
‘We’d never been really involved (with Habitat) before,? she said.
The Steffgens have volunteered with other organizations in the community, such as Crossroads for Youth.
‘The hardest part of Habitat is the fundraising,? said Tracy.
Building the first house took from early spring until December.
This summer, Circle of Faith did a ‘two-week blitz build? on the second house.
‘With the churches, we only work on the weekends,? Tracy said.
Paul and Karen Yackell of Clarkston, chairpersons of the North Oakland Circle of Faith, said they are pleased with the unified effort of fundraising.
Although each church pledges a certain amount toward the $65,000, it takes extra effort to raise money each year, they said.
‘We certainly are strong believers in both fundraisers and teamwork between church,? said the Yackells. ‘It is a fact of life that at least four families would still be living in substandard housing with the multitude of health and safety concerns that are incumbent to it, if it were not for the North Oakland Circle of Faith and it’s ecumenical camaraderie.?
The Steffgens are running together six days a week to train for the marathon.
‘I started running in college, just real casually,? said Steven. ‘I did small races once in a while.?
The Steffgens are building up their miles every week to prepare for the marathon distance of 26 miles.
‘The most we’ll run is 16 miles for one day,? said Tracy of the training. ‘Finishing the marathon won’t be a problem…If I have to walk, I will finish.?
Steve’s goal is to finish in three hours and 35 minutes.
‘At St. Mary’s, they are always waiting for us to find something new (to do),? joked Tracy, adding that she will wait to see how this goes before deciding if she will run anymore marathons.
‘It doesn’t really hit you until a day later,? she said.
The Steffgens said their four children; Justin, 22; Alaina, 22; Lindsey, 21; and Steven, 17; support their efforts, but as yet have declined to run with them as they train.
‘We usually run at 6 a.m.,? Steven said.
‘It’s basically, run, eat and sleep,? said Tracy.
Both say that working with Habitat has been a ‘rewarding? experience.
‘To give something to someone that you take for granted,? Steven explained.
To pledge money for North Oakland Circle of Faith’s 2006 Habitat for Humanity home, made donations payable to HFHCO/NOCOF, tag line Run for a Reason.
Donations can be mailed to Habitat for Humanity of Oakland County, 150 Osmun Street, Pontiac, MI, 48342.
The Steffgens can be contacted via email at steffgens@msn.com, or contact Habitat for Humanity of Oakland County Director Steve Campbell at ed@habitat-oakland-mi.org for more information.