Outdoors: Running

PROVIDENCE -- Before Kate Conklin took the starting line for today's Cox Sports Marathon, she knew how much it was going to hurt.

We're not talking the usual aches and pains that most marathoners feel. We're talking about unimaginable pain. Suffering from a rare disorder called erythromelalgia, the 33-year-old experiences a pain all over her body that she would liken to having acid or molten lava poured on her skin.

But it is exactly because of that pain that Conklin was determined to finish today's race, in her effort to raise awareness about what she and others must endure every day with no cure in sight.

And she did. Wearing sandals because it is too painful for her to wear socks or shoes, Conklin covered the 26.2-mile route in 4 hours, 52 minutes and 50 seconds.

``It was the most excruciating pain ever, but I did it,'' she said after slipping her bleeding and blistered feet out of the sandals. ``And it makes me so proud that I was able to keep going even though it hurt.

``The first half I felt pretty good,'' continued Conklin, who was greeted at the finish line by her parents, Dave and Candace Conklin, and her grandmother, Helen Conklin, of Warwick. ``I was right on 9-minute mile pace. Sure I'm in a lot of pain and my feet and my sandals are kind of bothering me because of the rain, but I felt really strong. Then all of a sudden I kind of bonked at probably (miles) 16, 17 and I'm really bad by 18. But it never crossed my mind to quit. I just want to do this to raise awareness for my disorder. So it was never an option to stop. I just had to adjust my timeframe for finishing. So I got a third or fourth wind by mile 23, 24, so I was able to keep going.''

According to the Erythromelalgia Association Web site, this rare disorder – also known as ``nerves on fire,’’ ``Man on Fire’’ and ``burning alive’’ - can affect men and women at any age. Although it is sometimes secondary to various autoimmune, neurologic or blood disorders, in most cases the cause is unknown. Therefore, although some treatments have been found to reduce or eliminate the symptoms, a definitive cure has not yet been discovered.

Conklin, whose story will be featured in an upcoming ESPN documentary, has been sharing her experiences on her blog, which she calls ``Kate Conklin – Triathlete on Fire.’’ She plans to continue raising awareness by completing an Ironman triathlon this summer.

``Training for a triathlon has given me my life back,'' she writes in one of her blog entries. ``When I first got sick I thought my life was over. I went through physical, emotional, spiritual agony. It has given me so much hope and pride that I might be able to make a difference.''

Incidentally, Conklin, who is a personal trainer at Sports Club L.A. in New York, planned to take a train back to New York tonight so that she can teach a Spin class tomorrow morning at 7.