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Foot Notes: An inspiring run with Madi Ford


 

On the long drive from my home in Carlisle to Norlo Park in Fayetteville, I relayed to myself over and over the hard-hitting questions I was going to ask while running with Madi Ford, a junior on the Chambersburg cross country team.

But minutes into my run with Madi, those queries began to slip from my mind, with my focus shifting to simply trying to keep up. I had previously joked to her that if my questions got too annoying, she could just run away from me. Madi was apparently taking me up on this offer.

Parents Brad and Michele had both warned me that Madi was shy, but somewhere near the end of Mile 1, while crushing me on an uphill, she turned around and playfully said, "I hope you know your way back!"

I finally got a break at the end of Mile 2 when she took a seat on a bench and asked me how I was doing.

"Oh, you know," I began, out of breath. "I'm just on pace for a 5K PR."

She allowed me to ask a few questions and among the things I learned is that we both have a similar distaste for "the hill" on the Chambersburg cross country course, a piece of terrain that left her with a broken foot near the end of the season. Madi told me that running is her only sport, admitting that attempts at other sports have been a "disaster." As for being a fast runner, she explains the key has simply been running with people who are faster than her. 

Brad, on a run of his own, jogs past us and gently scolds her for setting a punishing pace. She tries to discreetly tell him that she is "taking it easy" on me.

Our run continues and we are on pace to post a negative split. I pour my heart into the final 1.1 miles, trying to keep Madi in my line of vision, and when it's all over I dazedly look at my time. I am shocked to see that this run was my second-best lifetime effort in the 5K. 

As we stood in the parking lot waiting for Brad to finish his workout, I'm a tad exhausted and almost out of questions. I had completely forgotten that I wanted to take a picture with Madi. 

My first thought wasn't that I had just run with a cross country runner with ataxia, it was that I had just run with a cross country runner, period. 

It's hard for me, in my less than 60 minutes spent with Madi, to fully appreciate how far she has come.

Ataxia, which is defined as the loss of full control of bodily movements, is a scary word to me and was a "devastating" word for Madi's parents when she was diagnosed at 18 months old.

Growing up, Madi wore braces on her feet to help her walk. Initially, she could only take a few steps before falling down. Foam was placed throughout the house to enable her to move freely.

Life was anything but easy, but Madi kept plugging away. In physical therapy, she learned how to walk multiple steps without falling and was soon able to independently move from place to place. Her breakthroughs included being able to stand on one foot and eventually being able to jump, an achievement that her mom said caused a great celebration.

There was real progress being made, but more than anything, Madi wanted to do the things that her peers at school could do. She wanted to identify with something other than being a person battling ataxia.

Madi's attempts at playing sports were not successful, at least not to her liking. Running, something both of Madi's parents enjoy, was the only sport left on the table. After saying "no" several times, Madi finally gave it a try in eighth grade.

Michele said that in the beginning Madi would run for a quarter-mile and then be done. Her parents documented how far she went on each run so she could see her progress.

Slowly but surely, Madi had taken a liking to running and joined the track team. Then, as a freshman, she signed up for the cross country squad. Madi admits that she had some struggles with being the slowest girl in the group, but she had new friends and a new coach in the Trojans' Chris Monheim, someone who brought out a confident and competitive side of Madi that her parents had never seen before.

It wasn't long before Madi's abilities as a runner exceeded those of her parents. As a result, she "upgraded" and began doing work with local standouts like Amy Shelly and Jim Boyer, a man whom Michele describes as a "big brother" to Madi. Jim said he is drawn to Madi because he, too, deals with a personal physical challenge -- a leaky heart valve -- and just like Madi, he refuses to allow his condition to define his life.

Madi's bedroom is plastered with posters of her hero, former Shippensburg star and current pro runner Neely Spence, who helped her rehab through her first broken foot, as well as a painting of a running shoe.

It's people like these, Michele said, that have helped shape Madi into the runner she is today. She's not done yet, either, as she continues to rise on the Trojans' depth chart. Coach Monheim confirmed that before Madi's injury in the fall, she was only a few spots away from making that leap from JV to varsity runner.

No matter where Madi goes from here, the pride from her family is something that is hard to put into words.

"Madison's journey, to me, has been about a girl who never gave up and overcame every obstacle thrown her way," Michele said. "She is my biggest inspiration. She could give up, but never does. ... Madi has a heart of gold. She stays humble, works hard and inspires others to do more than they think.

"Running has boosted her confidence and it's a victory each time she crosses the finish line."

STILL STREAKING

 

On Friday, Chambersburg's Laurie Dymond will reach a major running milestone: Five years of running every day. Dymond won't be the only one celebrating, as Waynesboro's Angie Fuss is just four days behind Franklin County's leading run-streaker.

How do the two runners plan on observing their achievement? With a run on Christmas Eve, of course.