Angel’s Run in 2nd year

Michael Miller

Now two months away from her 4th birthday, Angel Hansen still hasn’t

mastered the skills that most children her age did years ago. Barring

a miracle of science, she may never reach them.

“The only skill she has is that she can laugh, and she can cry,

and she can smile,” said her father, Doug Hansen. “She makes kind of

baby sounds and she can grab objects, and that’s about all she can do

at the moment.”

Despite her disabilities, which she has had since birth, Angel

will be mobile -- in her own way -- for the second year in a row this

Friday. When her father leads the second annual Angel’s Run around

the track at Newport Harbor High School, he’ll be accompanied by

Angel, who rides around the track with him in a special jogging

stroller. She’ll only join him part of the way, though -- Hansen will

circle the track for 24 hours straight.

In 2003, Hansen and his wife, Jennifer, founded Angels Charity to

raise money for families of children with birth defects. The next

year, to benefit the charity, they held the first annual Angel’s Run

at Corona del Mar High School, with Doug Hansen and several others

walking, jogging and running around the track for one entire day.

Proceeds from the event, which included pledges and straight

donations, totaled more than $40,000. This year, the Hansens are

hoping to reach the $100,000 mark.

“So far, we’ve probably collected about $5,000 this year,” Hansen

said. “People know Angel’s Run is coming up, and a few people have

sent checks around the country.”

The second annual Angel’s Run will begin at 5 p.m. Friday and

continue until 5 p.m. Saturday. On Saturday, between 9 a.m. and 4

p.m., the event will be complemented by a health fair on the Newport

Harbor track, as Blue Cross, March of Dimes, One Legacy and other

local organizations will set up booths to advertise their

health-related causes.

“We very much like to partner with other nonprofit organizations

to share resources and causes and what have you, and we were just

very happy to be part of his promotion for his charity,” Nancy

Franks, executive director of the Pediatric Cancer Research

Foundation, said about Hansen. “He was looking for family-oriented

health issues, so it was a good fit.”