BLIND MARATHON RUNNER SETS AMBITIOUS COURSE.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

Sharlene Wills remembers the sounds, smells, routes and terrain of the two dozen marathons she has run in the decade since she took up the sport. She can even describe the scenery unique to each race.

Which seems odd, considering Wills has been blind since birth. But a lack of vision hasn't kept the stenographer and mother of a 25-year-old son from competing in the races - including today's City of Santa Clarita Marathon - or taking in her surroundings along the way.

Wills, 50, relies on human or canine guides to lead her through the 26.2-mile course and her other senses to soak up all she runs past.

For this race, starting in Canyon Country and ending next to the Valencia Town Center, Wills will run side-by-side with Luis Martin, a runner's guide she met through a Los Angeles track club. Each will hold one end of a rope tether, and through occasional verbal directions, Martin will inform Wills when it's time to make a turn or step off a curb, or when rough pavement is ahead or a water station is approaching.

``Every time I guide a person, it's not my race. I'm just there to accompany them. It's Sharlene's race, and I'm her eyes,'' said Martin, 47, a Los Angeles real estate agent who, as a member of the Achilles Track Club, volunteers as a guide for disabled athletes.

Running alone, Martin said, his fastest time was 3 hours 12 minutes, clocked in a Los Angeles Marathon years ago. But when he runs with Wills or any other person who needs assistance, he alters his pace to suit them.

``She's a slower runner than I am,'' Martin said. ``But whenever (Wills) wants to slow down, we slow down . . . because you're helping someone else to accomplish a goal.''

Wills said her initial try at marathoning was disastrous. ``I did my first in 1988 in Los Angeles, and I walked with a guide dog,'' she said. ``It took me 7-1/2 hours, but I had had no training and my dog had never walked that distance.''

She had the course directions translated into Braille, and because she works downtown for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, she was familiar with the area the marathon covered.

But her clothing and shoes weren't suitable for such an outing. ``I had blisters that you would not believe,'' Wills recalled. Still, she was hooked. ``I got the bug. I knew that this was my sport now,'' she said.

Despite her blindness, Wills said, she has always been physically active, from her childhood days climbing trees, roller skating and riding bikes to her teens, running track in high school.

Her best marathon showing was a 4-hour-39-minute finish five years ago on a hilly San Francisco course. Wills said she's aiming for about the same time in Santa Clarita.

``I'd like to do it in 4-1/2 to 5 hours, but I'm more interested in finishing,'' she said. ``Boy oh boy, having that medal put around my neck at the end of the marathon is very special to me.''

And even though Wills can't see her surroundings, she said she can sense the beauty - or blandness - of the marathon scenery in other ways. Races she ran in Humboldt and Big Sur were especially lovely, she said, recalling ``magnificent'' trees and a school of dolphins in the ocean along the route.

She can tell when a marathon is winding through a grove of trees, for instance, because of the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves. ``You can smell them. You can hear them. You can feel them,'' Wills said.

``You can sense the branches intertwining, and sometimes a whole archway above you. You can feel these little patches of sunlight, and then you go into the shadow,'' Wills explained.

``The smell of pine and redwood is always very refreshing to me,'' she added, recalling some of the marathons that have taken her through rural or mountain areas. ``You can breathe in the clear air . . . so it didn't matter to me that there were very few spectators on the course.''

Of all her races, Wills reserved the highest marks for the New York City Marathon. ``New York is awesome. It's a fantastic race, and they have the best organization,'' she said. ``The spectator support you would not believe. It's so loud. The whole city is behind it.''

Twice she has run the Boston Marathon. ``Going by Wellesley College, the girls scream so loud that you can't hear yourself think,'' Wills recalled. ``You can get some real adrenalin going when you hear people screaming for you.''

Other courses weren't as fulfilling. ``The Las Vegas marathon was a straight route and boring as heck. I could probably do it with a cane if I wanted to,'' she joked.

Other destinations have included marathons in Long Beach, San Diego and a Washington, D.C., race that she couldn't finish because it was pouring rain. By next November, she hopes to return to New York - and for that to be her 30th marathon.

Recently, Mills - who transcribes audiotape interviews that police conduct in criminal cases - and her guide dog Shyla completed a three-day, Santa Barbara-to-Malibu walk that raised money for a breast cancer charity.

But Martin, who has been running for 12 years, will substitute for Shyla in the Santa Clarita marathon, synchronizing his arm swing and leg stride with Wills to put the tether to best use. ``The whole idea of guiding a blind runner is not to pull her,'' he said.

``She's on my right, and I'm on her left. You don't even notice until you're up close that we're connected,'' Martin added. ``I totally forget that she's blind (because) after a while, you just get involved in a conversation.''

This will be the first marathon together for the pair, who have been training every Sunday for the past few months. ``All I care about is the finish line,'' Wills said.

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Photo

PHOTO (Color in SAC Edition only) (Ran in SAC and AV Editions only) Sharlene Wills, 50, with her guide dog Shyla Wills, will participate today in the City of Santa Clarita Marathon, her 24th marathon.

John Lazar/Daily News