By Cherri Sherman
While volunteering at a Mad Marathon registration table, I spotted an attractive young woman in neon pink shorts circled by a group of happy and attentive people. She was clutching hiking poles and I figured she had just come off a trail. There was something about her face and beautiful, big, expressive eyes that drew me in. The group moved together, and I noted that the woman’s feet did not follow in the same direction as her body and that her gait was off. I later learned that the aura given off by Annahita Forgham had little to do with her beauty and everything to do with her courage, strength, and attitude and that, indeed, her feet were a major problem.
Running has been a part of Forgham’s life since childhood, and her love of the sport progressed to craving extreme workouts and competition. Five years ago, she registered for the Mad Marathon, but COVID intervened. During that time, she continued training but struggled with maintaining her speed. She learned the reason her running was getting slower. In 2020, Annahita, at age 29, was diagnosed with a very rare genetic condition similar to Multiple Sclerosis called Polyneuropathy. It causes hearing loss, ataxia, retinitis, and cataracts (PHARC); her nerves are progressively being attacked and her muscles are weakening. With PHARC, there are great unknowns, but it is believed that exercise helps. She cannot (and will not stop) exercising.
In college in 2012, she affiliated with the Boston chapter of Achilles International, an organization connecting people with disabilities to athletic programs and social connections. She credits Achilles with later saving her life. Perhaps the greatest gift from Achilles was meeting Adam Cook, an elite level runner and volunteer guide, who is now her life partner. A resident of Brookline, Massachusetts, she had not forgotten about the Mad Marathon and had stayed in communication with Dori Ingalls, the organizer. Ingalls encouraged her to participate, welcoming her to apply her earlier registration to another event. She chose the 10k.
Annahita wanted to see with her own eyes what was claimed as the most beautiful marathon course in the world. With great fear and trepidation, she said she had to try, even if it meant holding Cook’s arm to walk. Nerve damage precluded Annahita from having a running stride, as she can barely lift her legs and feet. “It feels like I am walking through molasses when I try,” she said. In addition to her canes, she relies on her shoulders and arms to lift her up between steps, which results in her version of running. She knew Cook would be there for her however it played out.
On July 7, Annahita and Adam took their place on the course for 6.2 miles. In two hours, they were awarded their medals and received hugs from Ingalls. When asked what she thinks about during a race, she replied, “I cannot think of words as that would require extra energy when I am using everything just to move my body. I think of the passion that comes out of an emotional piece of music, a desperate time perhaps.”
Being musically oriented and playing the flute, she repeats a strong, beautiful melody over and over. In her imagination she creates something beautiful for others as she struggles with every step. During this event, she said, those efforts were not enough. The pain, especially in her feet, was so excruciating that she doubted she could finish. She credits practicing mindfulness and meditation, along with the constant support of Cook, with her accomplishment.
Doubting she will ever be able to do this again, she thinks of the experience as magical: her body did something no one thought was possible. Forgham will remember the great stress before the event — the unknowing and even the fear, the great physical and emotional pain during, and the totally exhausting time that followed. Above all, she said she is grateful to celebrate the victory of staying on her legs and not falling. She was able to witness firsthand the beauty surrounding her. “It was mind-blowing. There were wide, endless, green fields, big green mountains all around and we even passed a von Trapp greenhouse!” She said her key takeaway was that nothing can stop you from loving life if you don’t let it. She believes that even with life in general, you must struggle to get to awesome. Through her pain and exhaustion came the magic, she added.
Forgham and Cook are returning to Vermont to volunteer for Vermont100, a 100 mile ultra marathon. She plans to bring her hula hoop and her flute, having found that just a little music or hula hooping can make an exhausted runner smile and keep going. If Annahita Forgham can’t convince you to keep running, no one can.
