"She never let her disease hold her back. People came up to me at her funeral and said they didn't even know she had (cystic fibrosis)," McDermott said. "She was always trying to make others happy, always going out of her way to make sure you were having a good day."

So the past two Octobers, Brian McDermott ran the miles that his mother couldn't, to honor her memory and to help others fighting the disease she dealt with so gracefully.

McDermott, a 22-year-old University of Dayton student, raised a total of $5,500 the past two years from friends and family who sponsored his running in the 2003 and 2004 Chicago Marathons. He ran for his mother, who died in August 2002, and his uncle, Jim Cassidy, who also died from the disease in 2000, and he donated the money to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in his mom's name.

"He showed so much courage to push himself to the limit in memory of her," said Jan Schipper, Pat's sister. "I think it was knowing how she pushed herself. She showed a lot of courage in her life, and I felt like he was trying to be like her."

Schipper's lasting memories of her sister will be of her sense of humor, positive attitude and the way she gave to others. Pat McDermott was the first one to have food brought to a sick neighbor. She helped save lives by teaching CPR. And no matter how cold it was outside or how worried it made her family, she'd go to every one of her boys' sporting events. For one of Brian's last football games as a senior at Covington Catholic, she pulled a van up to the fence that surrounded the field, so she could be there to see the game.

"Her boys were always involved in sports, and I think one reason she encouraged it was because she could never be involved in them," Schipper said.

So imagine how proud she would have been. Brian was a football player when he was young, not a runner. He chose to run a marathon as a source of fund raising to prove a point, because it was something he thought people wouldn't expect he could do.

"It helped (to run for someone), especially during training," McDermott said. "In the mornings when you don't want to get up, you think, 'I'm raising money for this; I can't back out now.' "

He finished his first and second marathons in less than 3 hours, 45 minutes. And he said he plans to run more marathons for the cause, maybe even two next year.

"To keep my mom's memory alive," he said.

Ann Albin/Loveland

Being an avid sports fan finally paid off for Ann Albin. Out of an estimated 40,000 participants, she placed second in ESPN's WNBA "Virtual GM" contest that ended in October.

Albin, who said she has participated in WNBA and NBA fantasy leagues for four years, finished 24 points behind the winner, who got a trip to the WNBA Finals as a prize. But Albin was just as happy with the $75 gift certificate she received, which she used to buy a warmup jersey, something she could "never justify buying before."

"It was a thrill. When do you ever finish first or second out of 40,000 in anything?" the 39-year-old Albin said. "I just started very well and never lost track."

Albin said she frequently played Lisa Leslie and Swin Cash on her team, named the Cincinnati Miracle, but didn't spend much more than 10 minutes a day making lineup changes. She doesn't have time, raising three boys, ages 3, 5 and 7. But she does take the time to educate her sons about both men's and women's sports, so much so that their favorite athletes are Shaquille O'Neal and Katie Douglas, of the Connecticut Sun.

"I try to keep up on sports so I can teach them well," Albin said. "I want them to appreciate both."

And her knack for sports management must run in the family. Albin's two oldest boys, 7-year-old Jake and 5-year-old Jarrett, are tied for first place in their family's fantasy football league.

James Cochran/Hamilton

James Cochran has spent more than half of his life serving the local and state bowling communities, giving 45 years to the Greater Cincinnati Bowling Association, 35 years to the Ohio State Bowling Association and 25 years as the president of the Cincinnati Bowling Hall of Fame. He is the longest-running member in the organizations and said at one time he knew every bowling proprietor and competitor in the area from working at tournaments.

On Saturday, he was inducted into the Ohio State Bowling Council Hall of Fame in Columbus for that service.

Cochran, 77, began bowling in 1947 when he started two teams from his job in maintenance at Union Central Life Insurance. When he accepted his award Saturday, he said he would think about a friend, the late Joseph J. Rotsching, who spent 61 years with the GCBA.

"I'm going to look up to the heavens and say, 'I finally made it, Joe,' " Cochran said. "He did it for 61 years. He's the one I looked up to and who got me involved, just watching him and sitting with him at meetings. I gained a lot of knowledge being with him."

Cochran has taken a temporary break from bowling while getting ready for knee replacement surgery, but when he's done, he said he'll get right back to competing in his league.

"I don't bowl very well, but I'm bowling, and that's all that matters," Cochran said.

Cincinnatian Rick Pollard also was inducted into the Hall of Fame for "Superior Bowling Performance."

Warren County United Blue U10 soccer team

This team of 10 and under girls played up in the U11 division of the Warren County Soccer Club's HiFive Cincy Challenge in October - and proved they could play beyond their years.

The team, which calls themselves the Cheetahs, went 4-0 over the tournament weekend, outscoring their opponents 20-1 to take the tournament title.

The girls have played together for four seasons, and they had already won in the top bracket of the Sycamore Arsenal Challenge Cup and were finalists in the MEAD CUSA Cup and the OP Invitational this season. That's in addition to four other tournament titles they won in the past year.

Team members are: Demi Moses, Lexi Hurt, Kathy Connor, Madison Melnick, Brieh Walker, Summer Cupp, Sami Rutowski, Jennifer Williams, Sarah Ammons, Kayla McDowell, Jami Pfeifer and Sydney Chaney. The Cheetahs are coached by John Moses, Bill Conner, Steve Walker and Dave McDowell.

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E-mail ckane@enquirer.com