It's great when a person can make a difference in someone's life. This year's MR Contributor of the Year made a positive impact on the lives of more than 10,000 runners.

The Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Bank Marathon had a big year in 2004. It became, in the words of state marathon legend Doug Kurtis, "one of the superstars of marathon events," drawing a record 10,318 entrants to its sundry races.

And if 2004 was a big year for "the Freep," it was equally big for director Patricia Ball Dlugokinski. Credit for its success must begin with her.

Dlugokinski is no stranger to the sport. "I started running in 1976," she recalled. "I was working at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. My director told me to quit smoking and suggested that I try running."

She's completed "some 20 to 25 marathons" since then; Boston, New York City and "Moscow in 1987 (it was incredible)" among them. She has run most pretty quickly too, with a 3:20 personal-best time.

Her first marathon was, fittingly, the 1982 Free Press. "I was dead last on Belle Isle," Dlugokinski said. "The police car (bringing up the rear) was following ME!" She finished in 4:25 that year.

She became involved with the Ann Arbor Track Club, helping put on races such as the large and popular Dexter-Ann Arbor runs. The first race she directed herself was the Ann Arbor For Women Only 5K.

Six years ago, Kurtis, then Free Press director, brought her aboard his team. "I spent two years with Doug recruiting volunteers, organizing relays and finding sponsorships," she rememberd. In 2001, she succeeded Kurtis as race director, a full-time job.

It didn't take long before the marathon and its sister events surpassed even the steady gains they had made in the late-'90s under Kurtis. Entries had fallen beneath 2,000 a decade earlier, a considerable drop from the halcyon days of the 1980s. Kurtis breathed more life into the Free Press, attracting 50-percent more runners.

Dlugokinski stepped in and the growth never missed a beat. Entries in 2002 reached 5,104, and a record 6,478 the next year.

Marathon day now includes a 5K and five-person relay in addition to the big race. This year, Dlugokinski added a half-marathon, whose course was pretty much the first half of the marathon. It included highlights of the big race: Comerica Park, Corktown, Mexican Town, the Ambassador Bridge, the run along the Detroit River in Windsor, the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and Ford Field. Dlugokinski credits it for "creating a lot of the excitement and enthusiasm of this year's race. It boosted our numbers to record levels."

The marathon course has undergone changes too. Both Kurtis and Dlugokinski have prettied it up. They added the above attractions, some of Detroit's and Windsor's finest, while retaining old highlights such as Belle Isle (a stretch that is shorter and less arduous than before).

The increase in numbers confronted Dlugokinski with one of the two biggest challenges she has faced in her four years as director. The first of those tests was "the race after 9/11. There was such a short period to find a new course (for security purposes). It's a miracle the 2001 race went off without any real hitches," she declared.

The 2004 numbers, half again as many as the year before, caused no major glitches either.

Dlugokinski praised the involvement of Gov. Jennifer Granholm's office - "especially First Gentleman Daniel Granholm Mulhern, who helped lift the marathon's prestige level." She also noted the personal involvement of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis and the Canadian Consulate.

She singled out staff for great efforts too. "All of us have run this race at least once, so it's near and dear to us," Dlugokinski said. "When it all came together on race morning, I got chills looking down the street at the crowd we had."

"I received more than 300 e-mails the morning after," she continued. Many more e-mails and handwritten letters followed. "They were incredible ... really nice.

"Maybe three stand out as 'ouch' messages, with criticism. They hurt. But they (the letter writers) don't realize the enormity of putting on an international event." She cited "constraints in working with the borders. Runners have to get to the tunnel in two hours," she said.

Overwhelmingly, though, she appreciates the runners, not just because they participate, but for who they are. "I've had phenomenal relationships with the people I've met," she said. "We start talking about the marathon and their running, then they tell me about their lives and families.

"Running a marathon is a life-changing event," she went on, speaking from experience. "To know I'm a part of making a difference like that is great."

Dlugokinski does not plan to rest on last year's laurels. "We're already looking at what we can handle next year," she said. "We'd like to see 5,000 in the half-marathon and maybe 5,000 more in the marathon. We'd like 525 relay teams; that's up more than 100 from this year."

She is working to further improve the course and its atmosphere. She hopes the city will give approval to move the start to Woodward Avenue to provide more room for runners. She wants to add more entertainment along the course, and "a wall of spectators like other marathons," such as Boston and New York.

Dlugokinski hopes to get the relay event more involved with the Think Detroit youth sports group, "and get more portajohns too," she quipped.

She keeps her running routine through all this. "When I'm training for a marathon, I run every day," she said. "I run four or five days a week when not training." She had hoped to run November's Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C., but suffered an injury two weeks before the race.

"I've had some of my best meetings in the world with people while running," Dlugokinski said. "It's where I get my creative energy. It's also my form of meditation.

"Besides, if I don't run for a couple of days, I get ornery," she laughed.

Ron Marinucci can be reached by e-mail at RMarin6424@aol.com MR