VALLEY BOY'S GOT 26.2 MILES OF HEART.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY 

It was becoming family tradition. The kid would meet his dad at mile 25 of the L.A. Marathon, and run the final 1.2 miles to the finish line with him.

Miguel Maldonado Sr., a Van Nuys postman, has been running the marathon to raise money to send children like his own son to a special summer camp for chronically ill children.

``He was doing this for me, so I wanted to do something for him, to make him proud of me,'' Miguel Jr. says.

So last year, as they crossed the finish line of the 2004 L.A. Marathon together, the little boy born with hemophilia A - a bleeding disorder - told his dad that he was running the entire 26.2 miles with him in the 2005 marathon.

``He told me he had thought about it and wanted to raise money to send more kids to camp, too,'' Miguel Sr. said. ``I told him that was very kind of him, but he would have to train very hard to run a marathon.

``I thought it would be too tough, that he wouldn't be able to do it. I was wrong.''

A lot of people were wrong - and worried. Hemophiliacs have a chronic blood-clotting disorder that results in excessive bleeding. Could Miguel's body, particularly his legs, take the constant pounding of countless miles of training to get ready to run a marathon?

Miguel's doctors told the family they would have to monitor their son's training very closely, and make sure he took his medicines religiously to control his blood clotting.

``There are a lot of physical things my son is not supposed to do because of his illness, but he's a 12-year-old boy - he wants to try anyway,'' says Irene Maldonado.

``When he was younger, we tried to keep him in this tiny bubble to protect him. Miguel refused to stay in that bubble.''

Even with all that drive and determination to be just like all the other kids at San Fernando Middle School playing sports, the rest of the closely knit Maldonado family still had their doubts.

Are you sure you're doing the right thing letting him train for a marathon, Miguel's grandmother, aunts and uncles wanted to know. Don't worry, the kid's parents said. It was a long shot, anyway. Their son would see how tough it was and decide for himself he couldn't make it.

They didn't care. They were just as proud of him for wanting to try. That was the important thing.

Maybe for them, but not Miguel Jr.

``If I quit, I'd not only let myself down, but all the other people rooting for me,'' the kid said Friday. ``I wanted to prove something for a lot of children like me: That we can do a lot of things people say we can't do.''

The kid trained hard, but his body began to betray him. He was hurt a lot, and had two bleeds in his legs that caused him to stop training for almost a month. Then the rains came.

``The weather killed us for training, and before we knew it, the marathon was only a few weeks away,'' Miguel Sr. said. ``My wife and I tried to convince him that maybe he should wait until next year.''

The kid made a deal with his dad. They would take a 13-mile test run the Monday before the marathon. If Miguel could finish that, they'd run the marathon together this year.

After a 13-mile run through their Pacoima community, the kid was still stride for stride with his dad. When they got home, Miguel Sr. told his wife that not only would they be running the marathon together this year, but with a little luck and good weather they could finish the whole 26.2 miles in under five hours, their goal.

It was very cold the morning of the L.A. Marathon, and the kid was shivering at the starting line. Miguel hugged his son to keep him warm, and told him again to pay no attention to the mile markers. Focus instead on how happy and proud he was going to be crossing that finish line.

The kid's legs started to hurt around mile 15 so he stopped and walked a few blocks, while his 14-year-old sister, Ashley, followed him on a scooter with some food and water.

He slowed again at mile 20, but when he hit mile 25 - where he would normally jump in to finish the race with his dad - the kid broke out into a big grin, his father says.

``Let's finish strong, dad,'' Miguel Jr. said. And that's what they did.

With his grandmother and the rest of the family running the last 100 yards with them from the sidewalk - screaming their heads off with encouragement and pride - the Maldonado boys finished the marathon in 4 hours and 48 minutes.

``This is my son!'' Miguel Sr. yelled proudly, hugging his son and breaking down crying.

The next morning, when his supervisor at the Van Nuys post office, Elm Magno, and his co-workers wanted to know how they had done in the marathon, Miguel told them how proud he was of his son.

``We all just stood there applauding,'' Magno said Friday. Then they handed Miguel a check for a few hundred dollars to add to the more than $1,300 the Maldonado boys raised to help some sick kids go to The Painted Turtle summer camp in Lake Hughes this year.

More than 1,000 kids ages 7-16 attend the weekly camps created by actor Paul Newman in 1982 from the profits of his Newman's Own food products. Doctors, nurses, therapists, counselors and volunteers are on hand to work with the kids.

``The Maldonados are such an incredible, inspirational family that has done so much for our program over the years,'' said Tina Beck, volunteer coordinator at the Lake Hughes camp.

Miguel will be receiving the Big Stick Award at the camp being attended by more than 100 children with hemophilia this July. Since he was a baby, all his medicines have been administered intravenously by doctors and his parents. Now, he will do it himself.

``The younger kids learn from the older ones at camp,'' Beck said. ``It's a huge honor to infuse themselves.''

Almost as huge an honor as the kid will have showing his L.A. Marathon medal to the 7-year-old hemophiliacs coming to the camp for the first time.

Teaching them they can do a lot of things people say they can't do.

For more information on The Painted Turtle camp, call [phone], or log on to www.thepaintedturtle.org.

Dennis McCarthy, [phone]

dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Miguel Maldonado Jr., 12, of Pacoima has hemophilia, but he and his father, Miguel Sr., crossed the finish line of the L.A. Marathon together, with Miguel Jr. running the entire way for the first time this year.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer