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Crippled body can't kill spirit

Ruth Sheehan, Staff Writer


If only Sarah Witt had known which run would be her last. She might have gone farther. Might have exalted in it more.
But this is not a story of what-ifs. It is the tale of a runner who cannot, will not, be stopped.

It was the spring of 2004 when Witt, an avid -- nay, fanatical -- runner, began noticing her left leg was dragging on her long runs.

That summer, she started getting sick off and on, strange achy viruses and virulent bouts of strep throat that increasingly refused to respond to treatment. By fall, she was in intensive care -- the strep had taken over her entire system, leaving her unable to walk.

The doctors performed test after test. They decided it was a quirk; they promised, over time, that Witt's strength would return.

It seemed to, at first. She could walk with a cane. She dreamed of running again. Meanwhile, the doctors were unable to figure out what was wrong. "They told me it was all in my head," Witt "said," rolling her eyes.

I put quotations around the word "said" because two-and-a-half years later, Witt can no longer speak. Those powerful running legs are confined to a motorized wheelchair. Her arms are bent and awkward. Her hands are too weak to use the special keyboard that has been her voice for nearly a year.

So instead, she writes short phrases on a dry erase board and uses facial expressions to tell her husband, Jeff, what part of the story to tell next.

In the summer of 2005, at a remarkable new clinic at Duke, she was finally diagnosed with PLS, primary lateral sclerosis, a disease similar to the more commonly known ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. The disease causes the brain to send destructive messages to the body, gradually shutting down its functions. It is painful. It is ultimately fatal. There are drugs to ease the symptoms and perhaps slow the course. There is no cure.

So at age 40, the mother of two children (9 and 11), the successful magazine writer, the woman who had trained dozens of other runners to reach their potential, finds herself stuck in a body that simply will not cooperate.

But her mind is sharp as ever. Her spirit has never been stronger.

In 2006, she came up with the idea of a one-mile race to raise money for research into motor neuron diseases such as PLS. She dubbed it the Magnificent Mile.

She wanted the event to combine all the elements of running that she loves: speed and competition but also community. It was important to her that people could walk, or roll; that children could join in, too.

That first race, in November, drew 402 participants.

This year, the mile has USA Track and Field certification and will be held at 2 p.m. Sept. 16 in downtown Raleigh, part of the Second Empire series of road races. See ncroadrunners.org/magmile.

Mike Walsh, president of the N.C. Roadrunners Club (who was trained for his first marathon by Witt) has waived the entrance fee for a slate of elite runners. A fun run/walk will follow.

This year they expect more than 700 participants.

Witt will be there in her motorized chair. Make no mistake, she will finish the course. If running taught her one thing, it was pushing forward when others might falter. It was keeping an eye on the finish line while savoring every moment along the way.


Columnist Ruth Sheehan can be reached at 829-4828 or ruth.sheehan@newsobserver.com.

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