A MEMORABLE RUN ALI'S DAUGHTER HELPS PARKINSON'S VICTIMS.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

A majority of those who run the Los Angeles Marathon have great support, friends and family cheering them on from the sidewalk, but May May Ali had the Greatest.

``My dad was there at the start, waving to everybody as they ran past,'' said Ali, daughter of the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali. ``I was screaming, 'Daddy, Daddy,' and he didn't even know I was running so he saw me and his eyes got all huge. He couldn't believe it. He just stared at me until we couldn't see each other anymore.

``I saw him afterward and he leans in to me and says, 'You know, you got the genes from me.' I said, 'You always have to take credit for everything, don't you?' ''

Ali ran the marathon at that time, in 1990 and 1991, for fitness. Now it has a much deeper meaning, as she is running this year's race Sunday as a part of Team Parkinson, helping to raise money and awareness for the disease that has stricken her father.

Ali has also found motivation from John Ball, a Whittier resident who will run his seventh L.A. Marathon on Sunday even though he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1983 at age 39.

Ali and Ball met at a Team Parkinson function before last year's marathon, and moved by his story, she agreed to run with the team this year.

``They got me in a moment of weakness and I can't chicken out now,'' Ali said. ``But what John and those people do is just amazing to me. It just goes to show that Parkinson's is not a death sentence. By staying healthy and eating a good diet, most people with Parkinson's can lead a very normal life.''

In many ways, Ali wants to hold up Ball - rather than her father - as an example of a person dealing with Parkinson's. There is no known cure for the brain disease, which causes a noticeable lack of muscle control. Still, Ball continues to work a full-time job and five years ago ran the L.A. Marathon in less than four hours.

``My dad's weight and diet do not help him,'' Ali said. ``He has a tremendous weakness for sweets and we try to tell him that if he would eat right, his balance could be better, but he doesn't listen.

``My dad is the living definition of the word pride. When he first (was diagnosed), he hated to see people look at him and whisper with these sad looks. He's not sad, so he doesn't want people to be sad for him. He's just as sharp as he ever was, cracking jokes around the house, acting silly and having a good time.''

That's the message Ball wants to get across, that living with Parkinson's is not an oxymoron.

The arm and leg tremors are worse in some than others, and while Ball notes that a large percentage of Parkinson's patients also suffer from depression, his voice reflects more enthusiasm and spirit than most healthy people.

The Vietnam veteran, who first experienced symptoms of the disease at age 27, admits it would be easy for him to have a negative outlook and rue the life he has been handed. Instead, he emphasizes what he has rather than what he has lost.

``People listen to their doctors and that's not always a good thing,'' Ball said. ``My doctor said I had to give up my pilot's license, my race car and my motorcycle because I wouldn't be competent at that stuff anymore. Well, that's just not true.

``I gave up that stuff because I found other things that were more important, not because somebody told me I had to. I've gotten more out of life by challenging the rules rather than following them, and I like to take on big challenges.''

There are few physical challenges bigger than running a marathon, as Ali, a healthy 33-year-old woman, well knows. She finished the race in both previous attempts.

Ali, who works with a teen-delinquency prevention group and hopes to publish a children's book about her father, jokes about keeping a pair of crutches in her trunk during training sessions. She hopes her father's genes will hold up over the 26.2-mile course, and she knows she will have plenty of support from her teammates.

``It's very inspirational and finishing a marathon makes you want to finish everything else you start for the rest of the year,'' Ali said. ``If (Team Parkinson) runners can do it, then nobody else should have an excuse not to do it.

``When I ran the first time, everybody was chanting 'Ali, Ali, Ali' at the start as my dad waved to them, so I just closed my eyes and pretended they were cheering for me. You need all the help you can get when you run a marathon.''

And now, Ali is in a position to provide some help of her own to Team Parkinson.

XXVII L.A. Marathon

WHEN: Sunday, with wheelchair events starting at 8:20 a.m., followed by crank wheelchair (8:33) and runners/walkers following; L.A. bike tour begins at 6 a.m., the 5K event begins at 9:45.

WHERE: Race begins at Grand Avenue and Second Street, Los Angeles, and will end at Hope Street, just north of Olympic Avenue.

INFORMATION: [phone].

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

(color) May May Ali, daughter of Muhammad Ali, is running in Saturday's L.A. Marathon to raise awareness for Parkinson's Disease.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer

Box:

XXVII L.A. Marathon (see text)