Ball new marathon director

February 27, 2001

BY GEORGE SIPPLE
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

The Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Bank International Marathon has a new race director.
Pat Ball of Ann Arbor, who assisted with the relay team program the past two years, succeeds Doug Kurtis, whose workload at Ford Motor Co. caused him to resign.
This year's marathon will be Oct. 21.

Ball, 45, ran her first Free Press marathon in 1981 and came back annually until 1989, when she gave birth to a son. Her best time was 3 hours, 36 minutes two years ago. She runs six to 10 races and one marathon a year and is one of the founding members of the Running Goddesses, a women's group based in Ann Arbor.

"Doug and I have been good friends, and he asked if I wanted to do it," Ball said of the director's job. "It had been a dream of mine for a couple years, so it made sense."

Kurtis, a process analyst at Ford, will write a weekly column in the Free Press starting in April and will oversee the course layout.

Ball has managed other races in Michigan, including the Big Ten Michigan Run, the For Women Only Run and the Jingle Bell Run. She also was vice president of the Ann Arbor Track Club last year and has been involved in running for 25 years.

Ball hopes to get more community involvement in the Free Press marathon. "I just remember running back in the '80s and there was so much community participation," she said.

"I would like to see it be an event that pulls the community together. It's a premier event for people in this city, and we want to make sure we use it to enliven the city."

Ball said the course won't change much, but could have a different finish. Last year, the marathon ended at Chene Park.

"We're working with the city right now to get the course approved," she said.

The marathon Web site, www.freep.com/marathon, will be relaunched in two weeks, and applications will be ready in late March.

Flagstar Bank will continue as a main sponsor for the next three years.