Imagine running a race with no start or finish line. Imagine that you will run hundreds of miles over every street in Ann Arbor. No one knows how far it will be. There is no planned route.

Now imagine that you must complete this challenge between Jan. 1 and April 1 on snowy and ice-covered streets during Michigan's winter. Stop imagining and meet the 2003 Ann Arbor Arctic Challenge.

The "A3C" was born out of a crazy idea and event last year in East Lansing. Dreamt up by runner-extraordinaire and Running Fit co-owner Randy Step, it required each entrant to run every street of Ann Arbor, even dead-ends.

"Randy first threw down the gauntlet to a small running group in Novi about five years ago," says A3C organizer Sara Deuling. "Last winter, after being involved in training a marathon group and Running 101 course in the fall, I was afraid our new runners would be discouraged by the cold weather and quit running.

"Randy and I launched the East Lansing Challenge to keep these folks motivated through the winter," she continues. "Besides logging a lot of miles through the worst running months, participants learned a lot about their city and met a great group of dedicated runners.

"After moving to Ann Arbor this fall, I wanted to try a similar challenge here."

The event, whose new title word "Arctic" was fitting this winter, required each entrant to record their own mileage and runs on an "Official Arctic Challenge Map" and send in weekly updates to be posted on the Running Fit website.

It drew 51 participants, 15 of whom finished by April Fool's Day. Miles needed to run every street ranged from 134 to 238, with the average 171. Temperatures dipped below 20 degreesF on at least 30 days of the Challenge. Average wipe outs were three per week, but participants suffered no broken bones.

While it is difficult to categorize a "typical" runner, most prefer to know where and how far they're going before they start. Many run the same routes until ruts are visible in the sidewalk.

A3C challenged entrants physically and psychologically. Dead-ends became streets where most time was spent. Pace and distance were distorted by frequent turnarounds, illogical routes and bad weather. Who would do this for nothing more than self satisfaction and a t-shirt? Here are sketches of a few who took on the task.

Jackie Garris rediscovered her native city. "I was reminded (cruelly) of how hilly Ann Arbor is," she said. "Almost every route I took was filled with hills."

Garris passed homes of childhood friends and found streets that she never knew existed. "The Challenge renewed my love for Ann Arbor," she said. "Its scenery has its own character." And hills.

Karen Ansbro Leone moved to Ann Arbor for a year's visit months while her husband teaches at the University of Michigan Business School. She signed up to walk Challenge in hopes of discovering the town's treasures in that time span.

Bill Rand came across one such jewel. "I never knew what a beautiful view there was over the city from the top of Sunset Road until I ran there one night," he said.

Can Cold Cause Directional Dyslexia?

U-M student Tracy Sanderson, whose north campus housing placed her just off the "Official" map, logged the most event mileage without finishing. She started by planning a route and writing it on note cards, but found the method was not effective.

"I would plan my routes," she said. "But as I don't know my left from my right (sad, but true), I'd either mess up when I was writing it down or when running it. Photocopying the map and highlighting the route worked much better."

Even Deuling, who organized the Challenge, got lost sometimes. "I created a route each Tuesday so people could come to run with a group and (hopefully) not have to follow a map," she remembered. "One week, I made a few wrong turns and ended up off the map. We ran in circles for 10 minutes before we found our way back to the planned route."

She wound up cutting out the piece of map with the area she planned to attack and taping it to her glove. "That way," said Deuling, "I kept my hands free and always had a little map with me, so I didn't miss those sneaky dead ends with no street signs."

Inspiration and Teamwork

Though the Challenge was intended to motivate runners to keep resolutions and log winter miles, some participants used it for bigger and better things.

"For the past three years I have run the Chicago Marathon," Paul Kuchinski said. "Afterwards, I sat on the couch from November to March praying for warmth and sunshine to start my running routine again." This year was different. "What a great motivation," Kuchinski said of the Challenge. "Instead of grabbing a beer and watching TV, I averaged five miles per day and saw neighborhoods I would otherwise not have seen."

Marc Pauley, Judi Mayer, Kyra Fleming, David Chuparkoff, Anthony Targan and Lee Ekholm work and work-out together as part of the DTE Energy Power Runners club.

Ekholm, whose goal is to run a marathon in all 50 states, exhibited his endurance while Targan showed off his navigational skills.

"The first time I tried to map a route," said Targan, "I was so consumed by never retracing my steps that it frustrated me. I almost gave up before I started. Eventually, I learned to enjoy the challenge of planning routes and exploring town."

After running 90 miles on snowy streets, Targan sprained his ankle playing basketball indoors and wound up planning routes for his teammates.

Pauley used the Challenge to train for April's Boston Marathon. Mayer plans to try her first marathon this October in Detroit.

Fleming, a 16-marathon veteran, was happy to run with the group "so long as I don't have to look at a map," she said. While not concerned with directional aspects of the Challenge, she policed the "no shortcut" rule making sure all team members ran to the very end of each street.

Crazy Runners?

While they may be called crazy -- an adjective Sanderson said "I would never avoid" -- these athletes were on to something. Not only were they getting fresh air and exercise during months when most people hibernate, they discovered -- for the first time, or all over again -- the magic of Ann Arbor.

Some are were shocked by the city's hilliness, others amazed at its architecture. They came to understand their community and local news better by running down every street.

If nothing else, A3C furnished winter entertainment to dead-end dwellers who must have giggled at the crazy runners skidding down their streets.