Debbie McGee (left) crosses the Chatham Bridge with training partners Lynne Millholland (center) and Nell Carrion. McGee, 52, will compete in her 26th and final marathon next Sunday in New York. She has ALS, which she has nicknamed 'Louise the Disease.' PETER CIHELKA/THE FREE LANCE-STAR View More Images from this story Visit the Photo Place

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'Louise the Disease' ABOUT THE DISEASE

Stafford County runner will compete in her last marathon as Lou Gehrig's disease takes toll on her body

Date published: 10/26/2008

BY CATHY DYSON

Debbie McGee will need every bit of strength she's gained as a runner to get her through the challenges ahead.

Next Sunday, the Stafford County woman will race in the grueling New York City Marathon.

She'll face an even greater test from her own body.

The 52-year-old has Lou Gehrig's disease, a condition that eventually will destroy her ability to walk and talk, eat and breathe.

McGee's hands have gotten so weak since her diagnosis last year that she can't open a water bottle.

But she'll press ahead with the marathon because racing has given her so much and she wants to go out in style.

"Running changed everything about me: how I think about things, how I deal with problems, how I deal with joy," she said. "I think it changed me as a human being."

Next week's marathon will be her 26th in seven years--and her last. She won't compete anymore because she realizes, when the stopwatch is ticking, how heavy her legs feel and how labored her breathing has become.

But she'll still run, even though her gym bag sometimes is too heavy to carry.

"I don't look forward to the day when I can't run, but I won't stop until I'm forced to," she said.

McGee doesn't want sympathy. Instead, she apologizes for putting friends through the pain of watching her decline, said Birdie Clark, a fellow marathoner from Spotsylvania County.

"I have never once heard her say she's sorry for herself," Clark said.

McGee agreed to share her story--and to be interviewed by NBC on race day--because she wants others to know about the disease.

It's as much a death sentence as it was in 1941, when New York Yankees legend Gehrig died from ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

The condition attacks the nerve cells that control movement, and there's still no cure or known cause.

Doctors say that by the time the twitching starts--McGee has spasms all over--half the motor neurons have died.

McGee, who is married with three daughters, believes she's had the disease for almost two years.

Doctors say she's doing well and progressing slowly. Some who got the diagnosis when she did already are on feeding tubes or in wheelchairs, she said.

ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. It kills the nerve cells that control muscle movement. SYMPTOMS: Tripping; dropping things; abnormal fatigue of the arms or legs; slurred speech; muscle cramps and twitches CASES: About 30,000 Americans have ALS at any given time. It occurs in two of every 100,00 people. About 15 new cases are diagnosed daily. WHAT AGES? Most often, between 40 and 70 PROGNOSIS: Average life expectancy is two to five years after diagnosis, but 5 percent of patients will live 20 years. SUPPORT: There's a group for PALS (People with ALS) that meets in Fredericksburg. Contact Ellen Cochrane at 703/822-0444. ON THE NET: alsinfo.org --ALS Association

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Date published: 10/26/2008

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