It was a familiar name in more ways than one, yet new at the same time. Who was this Tere Stouffer-Drenth of Charlevoix who stunned the Michigan women by placing 12th overall at Crim?

Stouffer-Drenth was eventually disqualified from state prize money because she hadn't lived in Michigan for the requisite 12 months, but that didn't stop her from having one of the big performances of the day. One she hoped meant she was on track toward her goals for the Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Bank International Marathon Oct. 6.

Though "the Freep" was to be her first marathon, Stouffer-Drenth had two eye-popping ambitions: first, to run a 2:40 A standard for the 2004 Olympic Marathon Trials in St. Louis, or, failing that, to run a 2:48 to qualify for the B standard.

No matter how she did at the Freep, Stouffer-Drenth has to be the Michigan comeback runner of the year.

All marathons are stressful, particularly first ones. Choosing such lofty goals as a 36-year-old rookie adds to the pressure. But what really put the pressure on Stouffer-Drenth is that a week after the marathon, the last third of a book she was writing, "Marathon Training for Dummies," was due at her publisher.

Not wanting the advice book to end on a down note - that her program didn't work and she's never actually done a marathon -Stouffer-Drenth said after Crim: "I'll finish this marathon."

There are two reasons for Tere's name to be familiar: * She is married to Doug Drenth, whose brother Jeff, a former Central Michigan University All-American, was training with Nike's national team in Oregon when he collapsed and died after a workout in 1986. The cause was never determined. Another brother, Walt Drenth, coached at CMU and now does so at Arizona State. * Way back in 1983, running as Tere Stouffer, she was state cross- country champion at Royal Oak Shrine High School. The next spring, she won state track titles at 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters.

Stouffer-Drenth's Freep goal was even more ambitious considering a series of running injuries had curbed her racing since she graduated from the University of Tennessee 14 years ago. When healthy, she was U-T's top cross-country runner and team captain, and in 1986 was Southeastern Conference 10,000-meter runnerup.

Tired of post-college injuries, Stouffer-Drenth retired from competition but continued to jog through pain as a self-described fitness runner.

In February 2001, Stouffer-Drenth, then living in Indiana, began stretching exercises and massage with Indianapolis therapist Steve Kramer. The exercises, called active isolated stretching, involve using ropes to stretch muscles a few seconds at a time.

"(Kramer) said, 'You can be a great distance runner and be very flexible,'" Stouffer-Drenth remembers. By May, she was up to 55 miles a week, working on her speed and thinking of racing again.

In July 2001, she made an auspicious return in the Crazy Eights 8K in Tennessee, a prize-money race that lures world and U.S. elites. There, she finished in the top 15.

In May, at the Fifth Third River Bank Run in Grand Rapids, the national 25K championship, Stouffer-Drenth was third in her 35-39 age group and 13th overall. Then came Crim, where she was 12th overall in 1:01:07, finishing one spot ahead of Ann Stewart of Ann Arbor.

The Drenths, who had wanted to move back to Michigan for years, got their opporunity after the Franklin High School team they co-coached won the Indiana cross-country championship. They decided to leave on top.

"Doug is from Charlevoix," said Tere. "He thinks it's the most-beautiful place on earth, and I agree."

Doug found a job teaching in Petoskey, not far from Charlevoix, and the Drenths moved north in June: about the same time Tere decided to take a crack at her first marathon. She approached former colleagues at Dummies' Press, where she had edited numerous works in the popular Books for Dummies series, for a book about marathoning.

"I've been running for 27 years," says Stouffer-Drenth. "I've got a lot to say about running in general and about my own marathon training. I'm putting myself in the readers' shoes: I'm training for it as I'm writing it." The book is due out in February, whether she finishes or not. Out in March is another book she is co-writing: "Anorexia and Bulimia for Dummies," aimed both for victims and friends and families.

Already-completed books by Stouffer-Drenth include "Indoor Grilling for Dummies," "Buying and Leasing a Car," and, just published by Adams Media in August, "The Everything Budgeting Book."