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DEFYING SCIENCE. THERE’S ONLY ONE PICTURE OF AISHA PANKY IN A HOSPITAL BED FROM 2012. FUJIMOTO IS VERY RARE. THEY DID NOT KNOW WHAT IT WAS. IT WAS. IT’S OFTEN CONFUSED WITH LYMPHOMA. THE RARE AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE TEMPORARILY SLOWED THE STRIDES THIS RUNNER USUALLY MAKES. SHE WAS FACED WITH A NEW OBSTACLE IN THE COURSE OF LIFE. I GOT IT. 2012, I WAS DIAGNOSED IN 2012. SO AT THAT POINT IT WAS EVEN YOUNGER, I’LL SAY. AND IT WAS. IT WAS IT WAS DISCOVERED IN THE 70S BORN TO RUN. SHE CREDITS HER FAITH FOR PUSHING HER TO GO THE DISTANCE. MY FIRST MARATHON WAS MORE THAN JUST, OH, I WANT TO GO SEE IF I CAN GO RUN A MARATHON. IT WAS SCIENCE SAYS THAT MY JOINTS SHOULD STAY SWOLLEN AND BE ACHY. MY NECK SHOULD HAVE ME, YOU KNOW, VERY STATIONARY. BUT IT WAS I WONDER HOW FAR I CAN GET AND SEE IF I CAN DO THIS. HER TENNIES HAVE TAKEN HER TO CHICAGO, NEW YORK, WASH. INGTON, D.C., LONDON AND MOST RECENTLY, BERLIN, WHERE SHE CRUSHED HER TIME. GOAL FIVE HOURS, 13 MINUTES AND ONE SECOND. AND NOW THE HILLS OF CHARM CITY AWAIT AS SHE GEARS UP FOR THE BALTIMORE RUNNING FESTIVAL. THIS YEAR, I’M ONLY RUNNING THE TEN K SINCE I JUST RAN THE MARATHON A FEW WEEKS AGO WITH EVERY STEP, SHE’S IN AWE OF THE NEW NORMAL SHE’S CREATED SINCE HER DIAGNOSIS. SHE HAS THE MEDALS TO PROVE HER RESILIENCE IS THAT YOU CAN SET A GOAL AND YOU CAN COMMIT TO THE PROCESS THAT IT TAKES. AND THEN WHEN YOU CROSS THE FINISH LINE, YOU’RE JUST LIKE, I JUST DID THIS BECAUSE THE ONLY WAY YOU’D BE ABLE TO STOP AISHA WELL, YOU HAVE TO CATCH UP WITH HER FIRST REPORTING

Woman defies science, runs marathons with rare autoimmune disease

Running marathons has always been an outlet for Iesha Pankey, but after she was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease, running became much more challenging.”It is very rare. They did not know what it was. It’s often confused with lymphoma,” she said.It’s called Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease. It’s very rare and mainly affects young women.”I was diagnosed in 2012. So at that point, it was even younger, I’ll say. It was discovered in the 1970s,” Pankey said.But Pankey said she was born to run, and her faith pushed her to go the distance.”My first marathon was more than just, ‘Oh, I want to see if I can go run a marathon.’ Science says that my joints should stay swollen and achy. My neck should have been very stationary. It was, ‘I wonder how far I can get and see if I can do this,'” she said.Racing has taken her to Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C., London and most recently, Berlin, where she crushed her goal, running 5:13:01. With every step, she’s in awe of the new normal she has created since her diagnosis.”You can set a goal and you can commit to the process that it takes, and then when you cross the finish line, you’re like, ‘I just did this,'” she said.

BALTIMORE —

Running marathons has always been an outlet for Iesha Pankey, but after she was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease, running became much more challenging.

“It is very rare. They did not know what it was. It’s often confused with lymphoma,” she said.

It’s called Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease. It’s very rare and mainly affects young women.

“I was diagnosed in 2012. So at that point, it was even younger, I’ll say. It was discovered in the 1970s,” Pankey said.

But Pankey said she was born to run, and her faith pushed her to go the distance.

“My first marathon was more than just, ‘Oh, I want to see if I can go run a marathon.’ Science says that my joints should stay swollen and achy. My neck should have been very stationary. It was, ‘I wonder how far I can get and see if I can do this,'” she said.

Racing has taken her to Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C., London and most recently, Berlin, where she crushed her goal, running 5:13:01.

With every step, she’s in awe of the new normal she has created since her diagnosis.

“You can set a goal and you can commit to the process that it takes, and then when you cross the finish line, you’re like, ‘I just did this,'” she said.