NEENAH, Wis.  — A friend of Jeff Suhr was taking part in this new event in town, and encouraged him to come check it out.

So back in 1991, after this Lutheran minister finished up Sunday services, he made his way to College Avenue in downtown Appleton to support his friend at the first Fox Cities Marathon.

“I was sitting there, and I was watching a couple of ladies going, and they were running quite slow,’’ said Suhr. “And I thought, ‘I can do that.’”

There was just a slight issue with Suhr’s assessment, however.

“I didn’t realize this is about their 24th mile,” he said.

But it didn’t matter. Suhr was hooked. And the next year, at age 41, he completed his first marathon.

Now, for a lot of folks, running a marathon is a one-and-done gig. But not Jeff Suhr, who, for next 30 years, was a regular participant. Save for those times when his wife scheduled something more important.

“What happened, I think, is I set that goal,” he said. “Signed up for the marathon, and that made me run all summer and early spring. Otherwise, you say, ‘I don’t have to get up and run. I don’t have to do it. What’s the difference if I do it or not?’"

“But you know, if they have that marathon run, you know what it takes to get it done, and you better be trained.”

There were other reasons, too.

“I have a nephew who has muscular dystrophy, and he’s about 43, 44 years old,” Suhr said. “He’s been in a wheelchair since about sixth grade, and often I want to do this for him. He was always proud when I did it.”

Last but not least, his wife was a significant reason he kept pounding the pavement.

“I like to eat and my wife is a good cook,” he said. “And if I didn’t run, I’d be a big guy.”

But you can’t run forever. So this year Suhr decided this may very well be his last appearance in the Fox Cities Marathon. And his idea was to have all four of his daughters run with him in the relay marathon, each running a leg before he finished the race.

When it comes to the finish of this race, Suhr knows how he wants it to end.

“I asked whether they can all run with me at the end,’’ he said of his daughters. “And I said, ‘Well, it’s not really going to make any difference because we’re going to do it, anyway. But we’d like to get permission.’"

“I said, ‘If you don’t give us permission, we’ll seek forgiveness.’”

Permission granted.

Elizabeth Wilson is one of Suhr’s daughters who will run a leg of the relay marathon. And when asked how she and her sisters got into distance running with her dad, well, her dad had something to say.

“She actually ran before. She ran track in high school,” he said. “But when she practiced, she had to run through a Dairy Queen or something. And the coach didn’t know that she was getting something at Dairy Queen. Then she’d run back.”

“Always about motivation,’’ said Wilson. “You gotta find your own.”

The motivation for this year’s Fox Cities Marathon was easy to find. There is much about a celebration of family as it is a race.

“It’s been fun memories already,’’ she said. “Race day is going to be a blast, because we’re probably going to have a little get together and a party afterward. So it’s not just about the race day. It’s about all the activity of before and the moments after and the memories forever.”

But in true Jeff Suhr fashion, he said he won’t be staying at the post-race party very long. He’s gotta run.

“I’m going to the Packer game that night,” he said. “With her daughter.”

Story idea? You can reach Mike Woods at 920-246-6321 or at: michael.t.woods1@charter.com