From age 1 to age 80, the Lee family is flooding the Tucson Marathon again Saturday

When it comes to making an appearance at the Tucson Marathon, no one can beat the Lee family. 

Seriously. Just don't even try. 

On Saturday, 22 runners will participate in the day's events — many of them in the Holualoa Marathon Relay. Another 10 family members will serve as moral support. 

They call it the Lee Spirit Run. 

It's a family tradition going on 15 years, and this year's race will double as a birthday celebration for family patriarch, Joe Lee, an Oro Valley resident and retired psychiatrist. Lee turns 80 on Jan. 30 and continues to stay active. A few years ago, he broke his neck climbing the Matterhorn with two of his daughters. 

No big deal. He healed and still ran a leg of the marathon. Ran, not walked, says daughter Nana Lee. 

When the family started running in the marathon about 15 years ago, it was just Joe and a few of his sons.

"But I wanted the girls," says Gayle, 67. "There was just too much testosterone in the house on those weekends. One of the daughters that is running now had never run 2 feet, so her first run was a difficult one, but then it just became a habit. ... It's kind of a like a reunion." 

Over the years other siblings have joined the weekend, bringing along spouses, grandchildren and now 1-year-old James Lee, the first great-grandchild at the event. Usually half of the 30 expected this year make the trip, but Joe's birthday is the no-miss event of the year. 

Joe and Gayle Lee have nine children between them — Joe brought six into their marriage, Gayle brought two daughters and then the couple had a son together. They have 25 grandchildren and have been married 36 years. Both will run a 6- to-7 mile leg of the marathon relay. 

And while the family runs several events and finishes at different times, they try to congregate at the finish line to cheer each other on.

Fitness goals. Family goals. Relationship goals. 🏃🏻‍🏃🏻

After 15 years, as with any good family get-together, this weekend has its share of traditions — and a wall of fame. Joe and Gayle have a wall in their house dedicated to marathon family photos. 

When we caught Gayle on the phone Wednesday, she was already "getting the lasagna assembly line going" for the family's Friday night carbo-load dinner. This year, of course, there will also be some birthday festivities to mark the occasion. 

The evening of the race, the family celebrates with Mexican food. During the meal, Joe doles out trophies and medals to participants and winners.

And why not? This is pretty much his event. 

"My dad brought us together and we started bringing our kids, and now we have a great-grandchild that is going to be here," says 35-year-old Geoffrey Lee, the couple's youngest. "It's a great inter-generational opportunity to celebrate health and exercise and family." 

In the week before the marathon, we chatted with a handful of Joe's kids and grandkids to get a sense of the family lore surrounding the race. Think trash talk, hush-hush junk food runs and a patriarch who keeps his act (and his family) together. 

Nana Lee, 54, a realtor from Los Angeles, daughter

Event: The Holualoa Marathon Relay. Her husband and three kids (ages 22, 20 and 16) are also coming. 

How did you get into this? "I was not a runner before this all started, and my brothers and then my sister started running in all kinds of marathons every year, and I was the only one who didn't do it, and they gave me a hard time ... My stepmother Gayle said we could do it — 'You don't have to run the half. We can do it as a relay.' And I thought, 'That leg is about 6-to-7 miles per person. I don't know if I can do that. I can't even run 1 mile.' But she said I had a whole year, so I started walking and running." 

How many times have you participated in the Tucson Marathon? Nine or 10. 

How do you train?  "I tend to slack off in the beginning part of the year after the marathon and then start running again and go, 'Oh my gosh. It's in three months.' It forces me, which is what my dad loves. He likes to think he is forcing us to be runners." 

How does your dad inspire you? "One of my dad's favorite sayings is, 'When the going gets tough, the tough get going.' It's his way of proving even though he is 60 or 75 or now 80, he still pushes himself to do this even though it's really hard for him. If he can do it, we can do it. For me, it started as I just wanted to be part of it, but it has made me into a life-long runner." 

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Marathon rituals: "My sister and I are really bad. My brothers have incredible rituals, and my sister and I are like, 'Are there donuts around here for breakfast? ... We've been known to stop at the convenience store after the leg of the relay is over and get junk food to eat while we wait for the race to be over." 

Kevin Lee, 49, TV producer from Hood River, Oregon, son

Event: "I'm going to be running the relay with my family, my two children and my wife. The whole family is coming out. The kids are 11 and 15." 

How many times have you participated? The half marathon five times and the relay several times. 

Training: "I have an old fashioned training method in that I run for an hour and if I'm out of shape, I don't go as far, and if I'm in shape, I go much further. I run about six months leading up the the marathon and then I give it a break." 

Workout of choice: Mountain biking and skiing. 

Pre-marathon rituals: "I cook a special concoction which is pasta, eggs and chopped up bacon and eat that at 4 in the morning before the race. ... I always remembered the carbo-loading thing and I don't want to give up on breakfast either, so I just combine the two."

Best part of the weekend: "The best part is waking up with the whole family in the dark and getting out and doing something together that's difficult and challenging. A lot of people have family reunions and sit around and eat and watch but there is something about doing something challenging that forces you together, and you have a more tight family reunion if you're doing a strenuous activity." 

Eric Lee, 56, lawyer from Park City Utah, son

Event: "I run the half marathon every year. (My dad) originally started running the marathon and went down the the half marathon and and last year was the first year he ran the marathon relay ... At almost 80 years old, I think he earned cutting back." Two of his four kids are coming and bringing their spouses. 

How many times have you participated? About 15 years. 

Training: Begins in June or July. "When I train, I listen to podcasts and sometimes books on tape, but when I'm racing I just take out the ear plugs and go for it. ... Each year, I get a new pair of shoes, and it's always the same brand. Adidas. I get them a month before the race and then that's the same pair I use to train the next year." 

What's the competition like? My most competitive brother is Franz. He is a year younger than me and he held the family record for a long time, and then I took it, but we go back and forth. The next generation is coming. My oldest son (Trevor Lee) is going to be in the half marathon this year ... and he is probably going to take the family title. ... We sit around the night before and trash talk about who is going to do what and who is going to win." 

Dylan Lee, 29, media delivery manager in Firestone, Colorado, grandson

Event: The marathon relay.

How many times have you participated? "This will be my fifth year." 

Do you listen to music when you run? "I do, and I listen to a playlist on shuffle on mostly upbeat rock songs ('Kashmir' by Led Zeppelin usually carries me to the finish line!)." 

Any post-marathon traditions? "My dad (Eric Lee), my uncles and I usually like a cold beer after the race. It's a great recovery drink!" 

Glory Norman, 22, a community manager at the startup Ivy in New York City, granddaughter

Event: The relay.

How many times have you participated? "This is maybe my sixth time." 

Training: "I've done this race at so many different stages. I started doing it in middle school, and my mother (Nana Lee) would drive the family car behind me, as I ran after school because she didn't want me to run on the streets alone, so she would creep along at five miles an hour. Now I start a couple months in advance, but with working it gets more sporadic, and I don't have anyone in a car following me to motivate me." 

Family rituals: "One of my grandfather's signature things is he is big on stretching, and we make fun of him ... Following the race every year we have a family banquet at a Mexican restaurant ... He will give out awards and always makes apparel as well. He had bad taste in clothing and one year everyone got olive green fleece vests that would say 'Lee Legacy.' ... This is nothing I would wear, but you have to wear it at the dinner." 

What do you like about the weekend? "It's very much my grandpa's thing and I appreciated that it brought everybody in the family together over something everyone wouldn't have done on their own."