Baltimore woman defies science and runs marathon despite having rare autoimmune disease
Marathons have always been an outlet for Iesha Pankey, but running became even more difficult after she was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease. “It’s very rare. They didn’t know what it was. It’s often confused with lymphoma,” she said. It is called Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease. Pankey says this is extremely rare and primarily affects young women. “I was diagnosed in 2012, so I would have been even younger then. It was discovered in the 1970s,” Pankey said. But Pankey said she was born to run. She says, “My first marathon wasn’t just, ‘Oh, I want to see if I can run a marathon.'” Science says my joints shouldn’t remain swollen or sore. My neck should be very motionless. It was, ‘See how far I can run and see if I can do it.’ ” she said. Her race took her to Chicago. In New York, Washington D.C., London and most recently Berlin, she achieved her goal in 5 hours 13 minutes 01 seconds. Now, Charm Her City is waiting for her as she prepares for her run in Baltimore and her festival. | Details of the running festival, including road closures, are as follows: “She just ran a marathon a few weeks ago, so she’s only running 10 kilometers this year,” Pankey said. With each step, she is in awe of her new normal. “You can set a goal and commit to the process it takes, and when you cross the finish line, you feel like, ‘I just did this,'” she said.
Marathons have always been an outlet for Iesha Pankey, but running became even more difficult after she was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease.
“This is very rare. They didn’t know what it was. It’s often confused with lymphoma,” she said.
It is called Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease. It is very rare and mainly affects young women.
“I was diagnosed in 2012, so I was even younger at that point. It was discovered in the 1970s,” Pankey said.
But Pankey said she was born to run, and her faith has carried her far.
“My first marathon wasn’t just, ‘Oh, I want to see if I can run a marathon.’ Science says my joints shouldn’t be swollen and painful. My neck was very swollen. It shouldn’t move.It was “to see how far we could go and if we could do this,” she said.
Her races have taken her to Chicago, New York, Washington DC, London, and most recently Berlin, where she achieved her goal in 5:13:01.
Now, Charm City is gearing up and waiting for the Baltimore Running Festival.
| Click here for details about the running festival, including road closures.
“I just ran a marathon a few weeks ago, so I’m only going to run a 10K this year,” Pankey said.
Step by step, she is in awe of the new normal she has created since her diagnosis.
“You can set a goal and commit to the process it takes, and when you cross the finish line, you’re like, ‘I just did this,'” she said.