Capt. Randy Pentis has seen a lot of people suffer in his years with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

It’s especially frustrating for the father of three to stand by helpless when a child is sick with a serious illness.

“As cops in general, as a culture, we’re kind of fixers,” said Pentis, 52, who’s 24-year-old son was diagnosed with diabetes at age 15. “We’re best (at) fixing problems.”

But there’s only so much a cop and father can do.

In 2005, Pentis had a casual conversation with close friend Tim Hagel, 50, also a captain in the sheriff’s department. The chat turned to family; Hagel had recently lost his father to hepatitis C, and Pentis was helping his son adjust to the challenges of diabetes.

Hagel said they told each other, “There’s got to be something we can do.” They hit upon the idea of running marathons to raise money for charitable causes. The men recruited three other officers from the sheriff ’s department and formed a nonprofit, Cops Running for Charity, based in Thousand Oaks.

Pentis, who lives in Westlake Village and works at the Ventura jail, said, “We replaced the frustration with raising money . . . with, ‘We’re going to do something.’”

Their first run as a nonprofit group was the Chicago Marathon later that year.

‘Who in their right mind

would do this?’

All the members of the nonprofit are parents.

The officers mail letters to friends, family and organizations, requesting donations for their causes. The money they raise goes to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, the ALS Association and Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The officers, whose ages range from 44 to 54, pay for their travel expenses and marathon entry fees. They use about 10 days of their annual vacation time to participate.

Improving the quality of life for children and adults with serious illness is the driving force behind the officers running in such places as the Sahara Desert, Iceland and Siberia.

Paul Higgason, a sergeant with the Moorpark police station, one of the cities that contract with the sheriff’s department, said he and the other officers in the group are committed to their cause.

“If it wasn’t for the charities we serve, I don’t know that we’d be doing this,” said Higgason, 51. “Who in their right mind would want to be doing this?”

Whenever the officers question their sanity, they think of the children helped by the charities they donate to, Higgason said.

A new level

The officers’ second effort was a four-day, 85-mile run in Tunisia in March 2006. The five runners sported goggles and turbans to protect themselves from the African sun and Sahara Desert windstorms. Organizers provided no water stations, so runners in the ultramarathon wore backpacks filled with water. Over the course of four days, they ran in 50-mph winds and slept in the sand.

“It takes you beyond any limits you can think of,” said Hagel, a Somis resident.

The following year, the group ran a marathon on the Great Wall of China. It was exciting despite the high temperatures and uneven, jagged steps on the wall, Pentis said.

The next year, Joe Devorick, a Camarillo police sergeant who lost his father several years earlier to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly called ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, joined the group in a 45- mile run in Iceland.

“It was surreal,” said Devorick, 49. “It was probably, to date, the most spectacular scenery I’ve seen on any sporting event.”

Last summer, the officers ran in the Easter Island marathon. The Ventura County cops raised $30,000 for their charities.

Seven weeks after completing the Easter Island run, three of the officers returned to Iceland. They hadn’t completed the marathon the year before because organizers stopped them around mile 37 due to inclement weather, said Hagel.

“There’s no way we’re not going to finish that race,” Hagel said, adding that about a month after they completed the marathon one of the volcanoes along the course erupted.

This year, Cops Running for Charity ran a marathon in Omsk, Siberia—their sixth run. The goal was to raise $40,000 for charity. Early estimates place the amount at more than $38,000, with still more donations to be counted, Pentis said.

Pentis said there’s no downside to the group’s efforts. Running is a healthy activity for them and they’re raising money to help organizations that improve the lives of the very people they serve. He also said he finds the strong brotherhood that’s developed among the six officers rewarding.

Their next challenge could be a marathon in New Zealand or in Patagonia, the southern extreme of South America.

For more information or to donate to Cops Running for Charity, call Pentis at (805) 648-9275 or email randy.pentis@ventura.org.