SUPERHUMAN EFFORT FOR THE TINIEST OF HEROES KANE TO RUN IN L.A. MARATHON AS TRIBUTE TO HER DAUGHTER'S FIGHT.

Byline: Billy Witz

Staff Writer

Never mind that Shirley Kane will be dressed as Superwoman, from the blue top with the big block "S" in the middle to the red skirt, red cape and sequined running shoes.

Trudging along at the back of the pack of the Los Angeles Marathon, she knows there's nothing (italic) that (unitalic) super about running, shuffling and walking 26.2 miles.

Kane's outfit and her first attempt at running a marathon are simply a tribute to someone she says is heroic -- her 10-month-old daughter, Emily, who has fought for her life since shortly after she was born with a defective heart.

"Emily is the super hero," Kane said. "My daughter has to be the strongest person I know."

Soon after Emily was born last May, doctors noticed that the walls of her heart were thickening, resulting in the muscle having to work harder. They hoped it would abate, as it often can after birth.

Instead, the condition, called cardiomyopathy, worsened. Doctors told Shirley and her husband, John, that their daughter would need a transplant as soon as possible.

Twice last fall, Emily had episodes where she had to be resuscitated, one of which they were told that she may not make it through the night. Then, after several months of waiting, a donor organ became available in December and the transplant took place.

Emily is doing much better since. She weighs 17 pounds - about the size of a 6-month-old - and is still fed through a tube and breathes at night with the help of a ventilator. But doctors have told the Kanes that they hope she can come home in April.

The Kanes have been through too many ups and downs to think that far ahead. Earlier this week, when Shirley was visiting the hospital, she noticed that Emily, who was having a good day, accidentally knocked loose her breathing tube. Soon she began to turn blue until Shirley, herself an emergency room nurse, called for help.

"The last 10 months have been exhausting and very emotional," said Kane, who often spends the night at the Ronald McDonald House, across the street from Children's Hospital Los Angeles where their daughter is held.

To cope, Kane turned to two activities: eating and running.

"I'd stress eat and then I started running when she was 9 weeks old, just to relieve stress," Kane said.

Kane, 39, had been a sporadic runner years ago, working in three- to five-mile runs, and twice had run a half-marathon. She found a group near her home in Anaheim that she joined for training runs on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, and soon got the idea she, too, could run a marathon.

"It's been great for her," said her husband, John, an aerospace engineer. "She wouldn't run if she didn't want to do this marathon so badly. Shirley got so consumed with that being able to run has helped clear her mind and run away some of the stress.

She's up at the hospital so much, she hasn't been able to spend as much time with our son (Dylan, who is 2), and I know that bothers her. If she weren't running, I think she'd have broken down a lot more."

John had intended to join her, but he suffered torn knee cartilage while he was training. There was no doubt, though, that Shirley would continue.

"There were times I'd be huffing and puffing and ask myself, 'What the heck am I doing?" Shirley said.

"Then I'd think of , her heart failing in her hospital bed and I felt guilty. I'd tell myself to suck it up.

"It's not hardcore. We walk, run, walk, run. But it became more and more ingrained that I want to finish."

If she hits a point in the race where her mind starts telling her otherwise, Kane will remember the cape she's wearing. Appliqued on it is a photo of Emily, her hopeful eyes an image that should prove strong enough to carry her mother home.

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