Running for a Cause

By Constance Tillotson

March 24 -- Olympic gold metal winner Bruce Jenner may not be running in the 22nd Annual Jimmy Stewart Relay Marathon. But he'll be one of numerous celebrities on the sidelines cheering on participants in the nation's largest five-person relay race at Griffith Park next month.

"I can't run anymore, my legs are bad," Jenner said at a "Celebrity VIP Kickoff" event for the April 13 race earlier this month. "But I love being a part of this race.

"It is always one of the classiest events," said Jenner, the 1976 Olympic Gold Medal Decathlon champion. "Even though I can't run, I can ride my bike… If they would let me sneak it in, I would compete in the race in an instant."

Founded in 1982 by legendary actor Jimmy Stewart, the relay has raised a total of $7.9 million for the Saint John's Health Center's Child and Family Development Center, which treats children who have been abused, suffer from depression or have physical and emotional disabilities. The center also has a program that helps those who have had pre-natal exposures to drugs and alcohol.

Stewardship of the marathon has been passed to Stewart's children, who are happily taking the race to future finishing lines. Stewart's daughter, Kelly Harcourt, who exudes her father's wholesome persona, says the race "stands for all that was true with my father."

"It's the innocent mom and dad loved," said Harcourt, whose voice and diction echo her father's. "It was the idea of doing something for a child along with coming together with the people from Saint John's Hospital.

"Once you go there, you realize it's not like any other hospital," Harcourt said. "We are here to continue the legacy."

So are many of the runners who take part in the race, comprised of more than 20 different divisions broken up in categories according to age, gender and corporate affiliation.

Burt Garavoiglia has run a 5.2-mile leg of the 26.2-mile race since 1995. Once again, he will represent the team from Farmer's Insurance, a corporate sponsor for six years and the defending champion for the past two.

"We're not going to give it up," said Garavoiglia. "They are going to have to take it."

While Garavoiglia clearly loves the competition, it is the cause that makes the victory sweet.

"All types of industries getting together in the spirit of competition brings a bonding to the community," said Garavoiglia. "We're here to enjoy the race, enjoy the park and just have a great time.

"But most importantly we are here to bring greater awareness to the children's developmental center," he added. "It's people coming together for a common cause."

For Duffy Walton and the more than 200 members of the Basin Blues Running Club the marathon is an excuse to have a big party while sharing the joy of running together.

A Northridge resident, Walton joined the Basin Blues 20 years ago because he loved to run and wanted to share that love with others. The group entered a few teams in the relay during the first few years of the race and will enter 15 teams this year.

"We love this event," said Walton, who was born at Saint John's Health Center. "We love to party, and we all happen to have a running habit We always bring too much food to the Relay Marathon and that is probably a good thing because one year I lost the baton and we had to run with a potato salad spoon instead. This is not to say we aren't serious competitors."

Walton estimates that the Basin Blues -- which has won numerous medals, particularly the women's teams -- has raised between $35,000 and $45,000 over the years. The group also regularly donates its used running shoes to the homeless in downtown Los Angeles and works with high school cross country teams from underprivileged areas.

In addition to corporate sponsors -- such as Lexus, which has contributed $1.2 million in its 12 years participating, $100,000 this year -- celebrities also have lent their support, running in a one-mile race and cheering from the sidelines.

Celebrities also have become an integral part of the annual event. When the squeaky clean Stewart was hosting the race, he picked what seemed his casting antitheses, the suave Robert Wagner, as his co-host.

"Dad had a natural instinct for being able to recognize a person with good heart," said Harcourt. "He hand-picked Robert Wagner as being one of those people."

Wagner, who was on location and unable to attend the kick-off event his month, will make the race but sent his wife Jill St. John and this year's co-host, Chris O'Donnell, to welcome the celebrants.

"If you want to change anything you have to be able to depend on a child," said St. John. "I have friends who have been to hospitals all around the world, they say there is no finer hospital than
Saint John's.