RUNNER WON'T BE STOPPED BY MS.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

Aurelio Navarro III was simply walking from his office to another building. Such a simple task. A short distance for anyone, let alone a healthy and active 31-year-old former high school wrestler and soccer player.

And then it hit; a bombshell from nowhere.

``It was a shock,'' Navarro said. ``It basically felt like I ran a marathon. I was so tired. It just took all the energy out of me.''

He called his doctor, who had him go to the emergency room. An MRI found lesions in the brain.

``And the doctor said, 'We are 80 percent positive you have multiple sclerosis,''' Navarro said.

The initial diagnosis was correct. Navarro's condition spiraled downward. There was weakness in his left leg, shaking in his right hand. Sometimes an unreal pain in his head.

``It was giving me like a head rush, only it progressed to where it was like someone walking up and grabbing you on the top of the head and just squeezing it,'' he said.

``I would forget what I was talking about. That would happen like for a minute, like I was in la-la land.''

Later, he would lose vision in his left eye. It all started in January 2002, and Navarro said his condition regressed to the point doctors told him he'd likely be in a wheelchair by the end of the year.

Only now something remarkable is happening. Not only has the chronic nerve disease gone into remission and his outward symptoms vanished, he is running.

And not just running a little. The Glendale resident is running for so long and so well that he plans to run on Sunday in the Los Angeles Marathon.

Not just run in his first marathon, but finish the 26.2-mile course. And not just complete it, either, but run it in a very respectable time, under 4 1/2 hours.

Navarro, a computer programmer at UCLA, has gone from feeling like he was running a marathon simply crossing a parking lot to believing he can actually run in one.

``It would be a huge accomplishment,'' he said. ``No. 1, it will shut the naysayers up. Because there are some people who say, 'Ah, you can't do it.' And there are some people who say I can't do it under the time I'm trying to do it.

``I'm excited about it. The only thing I'm a little concerned about is my disease. That's about it.''

That would seem a natural concern. MS is an unpredictable ailment that can attack the central nervous system at any time. Although not generally considered fatal, it can become progressive. There is no cure.

A typical side effect of MS is fatigue. Running a marathon would seem an unlikely, if not impractical, endeavor, yet it is largely because of that dramatic challenge Navarro feels inspired to achieve it.

``It's not beating MS, it's saying you're not going to stop me from doing this,'' he said. ``I think, psychologically, it makes me feel better.''

Navarro and his wife, Nazelie, are the parents of three children. He is active coaching their youth teams, and words he has spoken to them echo back as he trains.

``I always push them,'' he said. ``I'll tell them, 'Quit wimping out.'''

``Now, this is one of those things where I'm going to make it. When I run and get tired, I tell myself, 'Quit wimping out. Look what you tell your kids.' And I keep running.''

Navarro did not actually set out to train for a marathon. He ran to regain strength and stamina. Ran with his four friends, who were training for the marathon. Ran longer and better, until he focused on a half-marathon.

``I'm running and running and beating all these guys training,'' he said.

``Everyone says if you run a marathon, it's crazy. You're putting yourself through all that pain. I was training for just half-marathons but had it in the back of my mind. I think the guys saying, 'You can't do it,' made me think, 'I'm going to do it.'''

Navarro, 34, injects himself daily with a disease-modifying agent that offers a synthetic form of the myelin protein that insulates nerve fibers in the brain and is weakened in MS patients.

It is a thick drug that is supposed to be injected into a fat layer under the skin and above muscle. That, for a marathon runner, can be problematic.

``There are areas you're supposed to move around to do it, but, unfortunately, it's very painful because I don't have any fat on my arms and legs,'' he said. ``I've tried it everywhere, but it hurts really bad.

``The only place left I have left is the love handles.''

Navarro said he finally told his doctor, Barbara Giesser at UCLA, his ambitious marathon plans about two weeks ago. There are obvious concerns, and he was instructed to stop running should he experience any kind of new episode.

But there was one final message from Giesser: ``She said, 'Give 'em hell.'''

To simply attempt running the L.A. Marathon with MS is achievement in itself, but Navarro said he's not even considering running without finishing.

``It's not even in my mind,'' he said. ``I don't want to put it in my mind. I get all these people saying, 'What if, what if?'

``I'm going to make it no matter what.''

CAPTION(S):

photo, map

Photo:

(color) Aurelio Navarro III, who has multiple sclerosis, is participating in his first Los Angeles Marathon.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer

Map:

CITY OF LOS ANGELES MARATHON XX COURSE