Grant Memorial 5K is Family Affair
Tara Grant Memorial, Washington Township
By Tom Henderson
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP (9/26/09) — Stephen Grant may have tried to bury his wife, Tara, under the snow and fallen trees of Stony Creek Metropark, but in an ironic and wonderful twist, her memory and her spirit live on there.
The disappearance of Tara Grant in February 2007 and subsequent finding of her torso in the garage of her home and the rest of her body parts in the park that March were the fodder of headline writers and TV news reporters for weeks.
It turned out her husband, his bug-eyed stare a fixture on the airwaves and in the papers, killed her in a rage over her frequent business travel, botched the cover-up in weird and grand fashion, and was sent to jail for the rest of his life.
Tara loved running the trails at Stony Creek. Now each fall participants run or walk 5K over those same trails in the annual Tara Grant Memorial, a fund-raiser for Turning Point, a shelter for abused women in Mt. Clemens.
Her brother-in-law, Erik Standerfer, comes from Ohio with Tara’s sister, Alicia, to race the 5K hard. Sheriff Mark Hackel, whose detectives solved the case, can be counted on to finish near the top. A certain Michigan Runner reporter (and true-crime writer currently working on a book on the Grant case) and his black Lab mix run as hard as Hackel, but not as efficiently or as fast.
In 2008, Hackel pulled a hamstring during the race and still hobbled to sixth place. This year, healthy again, he finished sixth again in 23:26. The reporter kept him in sight for a change, finishing 11th in 25:02, then rounded up Alicia, Erik and Sheriff Hackel for a photo in front of the banner proclaiming the Tara Grant Memorial 5K.
This year’s race was the third annual and biggest with nearly 300 entrants, two-thirds of them walkers. After a month of delayed summer, race day dawned with the first gray sky and cool temperatures of the fall, perfect for a test of late-season fitness on a rolling, not-too-tough course.
The race, which begins in a meadow with a cross-country start, then funnels runners onto a single-file trail that loops into the woods, along a lake, back into the woods and into the same meadow where they started.
Graham Forbes, 30, of Washington Township was the winner in 19:34, with familiar face Todd Kelly, 48, of Troy, a fixture on the Detroit running scene, second in 20:03, and David Koelsch, 43, of St. Clair Shores third in 21:54.
Jackie Magnotte, 25, of Sterling Heights led the women in 22:19, with Vanessa Finlay, 23, of Armada second 11 seconds back and Kristie Slowke, 27, of Shelby Township third in 23:39.
Debbie Nawrocki, 40, of Washington Township was first master in 27:58.
This is one of those events you aren’t in a hurry to leave. There’s a big picnic, hot dogs, a series of sprints for kids and a raffle. The kids also get one of those inflatable, bouncy fun rooms to jump up and down in. Lots of walkers bring dogs along for a workout, so there are plenty of pooches to pet and play with.
The Standerfers are from Ohio but spend a lot of time in Michigan, celebrating summer near Beulah, southwest of Traverse City. There, they enjoy the Fourth of July Firecracker Run which starts and finishes just off the beach of impossibly-beautiful Crystal Lake.
“It’s a yearly event for Erik and his cousin,” said Alicia. “They are very competitive with each other, which makes it fun. There are several other relatives who run as well, and then a handful of us who run the first 200 yards, then walk. We always have a good time. It is a way for the adults to get together on the Fourth of July morning and not worry about anything except finishing the race.
“It won’t be long before Lindsey will want to participate,” Alicia continued. “Then it will become a true family event for the Standerfers.” Which means we can look forward to Tara’s race becoming a true family event, too.
Lindsey is Tara’s daughter. She and her brother, Ian, are in good hands now, living with Alicia and Erik. A tragedy like that which befell her mother can never have a happy ending, but with the Tara Grant Memorial an annual event and fundraiser for abused women, the ending is as good as possible.
If you’re looking for a run next year that combines a great course with a great cause in honor of what was by all accounts a great and much-missed human being, put this on your calendar. MR
