The freshly-paved path wound along the Grand River, through the woods, to points unknown. The bridge wasn't there yet, but a downed tree provided a crossing point.

My co-conspirator, Shawn Sweet, and I continued our run, both knowing what had to happen: We had enough trails to put on a Grand Rapids marathon!

The Frogger 5.5K, Gate Crasher, Cinco de Mayo Run for the Border and Run So Others Can Roll are among small, sometimes "underground" races we have staged in the last three years. The marathon is a different story -- we've got to go legit on this one.

This is the journey -- from the birth of an idea to the running of a marathon. How does one go about putting on such a road race? What resources does it take? Where does all that water and Gatorade come from? Who designs the shirts?

What goes on behind the scenes to turn an idea into a reality? It's time to find out.

Shawn and I discussed the idea with running friends and picked Halloween day 2004 as race date. That gives us a year. Now the goal has a deadline. It's alive.

We visited our lawyer to set up a non-profit corporation. If we're going to do this, we might as well do it right. We're setting up paperwork so we'll be able to offer sponsors a tax deduction. We created Shawn and Don Events, Inc.

On Oct. 30 we invited friends to Shawn's Hair of the Frog microbrewery to ask what they liked in a marathon -- what makes such a road race "cool"? What do runners want in an aid station? What should we call the event? What kind of shirts should we have? Who wants to work on the race committee?

We have lots of friends with a lot of opinions, and it was clear we had not thought of everything. Planning and execution of this race will be an adventure.

Todd Sterner, manager for Kent County-owned Millennium and Johnson parks, met us on Veterans Day, ordinarily a day off, to tour park facilities and talk.

Millennium is a showcase, and Todd takes pride in keeping the park as pristine as possible. As runners we have to agree with him, having seen trash dumped beside roads on some of our favorite routes. We committed to keeping the park in as good a condition as we found it.

We have named the race the Grand River Adventure Marathon. It's conceived, born and has a title. Now we have to nurture it through the next year, and help it grow into a full-blown marathon.

It's Nov. 15 as I write. We still have lots of questions, but we are going to find the answers.

Follow the progress and give us your feedback at www.GrandRiverAdventure.com. Then join us Oct. 31 to see how we did.

Writer/race entrepreneur Don Kern has completed marathons at the North and South poles, in 49 states and Washington, D.C., on seven continents and two planets. (The latter includes Northville's Martian Marathon.) MR