McCombs: 11 members of Beaufort's Althoff family running in Savannah's Rock 'n' Roll Half-Marathon

It could be simply a goal of running one more race and getting his loved ones involved. Or it could be a ploy to get his family off the couch and in better shape.

One way or another, Dave Althoff has brought his family together.

All together, 11 members of Althoff’s family will run in the Rock ’n’ Roll Half-Marathon on Saturday in Savannah.

Beaufort resident Jeff Althoff and his father were at a family wedding in the spring when Dave Althoff, who recently turned 74, suggested he wanted to run one more half-marathon before he turned 75.

“I was going into my 75th year thinking, ‘Right now, I’m in good shape,’ ” Dave Althoff said. “That’s when I started talking to Jeff.”

Jeff Althoff said his father, who lives in Vero Beach, Fla., suggested the family should run with him, and the Savannah event made the most sense.

Jeff Althoff was skeptical but on board.

“It helps keep my clothes fitting, if you know what I mean,” Jeff Althoff said. “Initially, reaction was lukewarm. He was like, ‘Let’s see if we can’t rally the troops.’ Slowly, within weeks, a couple family members came on board. Then in a month or two, we had all these people training for the half-marathon.”

Both Dave and Jeff Althoff admitted that the majority of the family members weren’t runners. That makes it easy to speculate that maybe Dave Althoff had an ulterior motive.

Jeff Althoff laughed at the suggestion this was all a sinister ploy to get the family in shape.

“This probably isn’t even the last (race),” Jeff Althoff joked. “It probably is (a trick). It just might be a trick, ‘I’ll get my family to move and lose 20  pounds.’ ”

Dave Althoff denied the half-hearted accusations but didn’t sound convincing.

“A couple of the girls in the family thought it was a good idea for just that reason,” Dave Althoff said. “If that was the ulterior motive, it probably worked.”

Whatever the reason, 11 family members will run Saturday.

In addition to Dave Althoff and Jeff Althoff, 54, there are Dave Althoff’s daughter and son-in-law Teresa, 50, and Darin Strackbein, 50, of Carmel, Ind.; grandson and granddaughter-in-law Michael, 28, and Kasey Althoff, 28, of Durham, N.C.; granddaughter Kelly Althoff, 24, of Charlotte; grandson and granddaughter-in-law David, 22, and Jen Strackbein, 24, of Indianapolis; granddaughter Morgan Strackbein, 19, of Ball State University; and granddaughter Jessica Strackbein, 17, of Carmel, Ind.

Dave Althoff insists he’s not a serious runner — “I just try to make sure my feet are above the ground at the end of the race.”

Jeff Althoff said if his father had suggested they run the marathon, instead of the half-marathon, this wouldn’t be happening.

He recounted the Greek legend of a soldier running 26 miles to deliver a message.

“He ended up dying!” Jeff Althoff joked. “It became a human challenge, ‘Can you run 26 miles and live?’ No thanks.”

Dave Althoff said, despite a potentially toasty forecast for Saturday, he’s “ready to rock.” But mostly he’s thankful his family was interested enough to make the effort to run with him, no matter what his reasons.

“That my family would find this that important ...,” Dave Althoff said. “Pretty cool.”

This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 3:08 AM with the headline "McCombs: 11 members of Beaufort's Althoff family running in Savannah's Rock 'n' Roll Half-Marathon."