She's racing to prove that MS won't stop her
Charlottean Isabella Malick has completed the six marathons that make up the Abbott World Marathon Majors, despite being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 11 years ago
The following article appeared in the April 23, 2025, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.
Boston marathoner Isabella Malick is on a mission to show that ‘MS doesn’t define my life’
Amid a mass of runners, Isabella Malick (center in sunglasses) approaches the starting line of Monday’s Boston Marathon. (Photo contributed by family)
by Ken Garfield
At age 12, Isabella Malick of Mooresville lost sight in her left eye and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, the incurable disease that affects the central nervous system.
At age 17, determined not to let MS define her, she took up running.
Monday, at age 23, she finished the 129th Boston Marathon and settled on a slang word to describe the meaning of her achievement.
“Enthusiasticness.”
In other words, she told The Ledger, “Me running these marathons, it shows that MS doesn’t define my life.”
In that spirit, running has given Isabella a gift.
She wants to prove to herself that she is bigger than MS, whose symptoms can include muscle weakness, vision problems, numbness and cognitive issues. She said she has a “non-classified” form of MS with symptoms that include fatigue and vision issues. Others with the disease can suffer from extreme disability that makes it impossible to walk, much less run marathons.
“I try not to live my life in fear,” she says.
That explains how and why Isabella has finished the six marathons that make up the original and prestigious Abbott World Marathon Majors. (The Ledger recently profiled Cheryl Perry, another Charlottean who is completing the six marathons.)
Since 2019, Isabella has completed marathons in Chicago, New York, London, Berlin, Tokyo and, as of Monday, Boston. None are easy, much less for someone with MS. At the New York City Marathon in 2022, the heat and overexertion got to Isabella at Mile 4. Everything went dark. At the medical tent, they threw ice down her sports bra and running shorts until her vision returned. On she went.
Isabella said Boston was incident-free, and phenomenal. Many spectators and some of the 30,000-plus runners wore “Boston Strong” T-shirts recalling the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. At Mile 19, pausing for a Popsicle, she connected with first-time marathoner Emily from Seattle. The two chatted as they pushed each other forward. Some 200 yards from the end, Isabella screamed to no one in particular, “Is that the finish line?” A nearby runner gave her the good news: “Yeah, that’s it.”
Isabella finished the 26.2 miles in 4 hours 9 minutes.
Even better in her mind, she has raised $25,000 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Why stop now?
Isabella is thinking about tackling Ironman Triathlons — a 112-mile bike ride, 26.2-mile run and 2.4-mile swim.
“I want to conquer it all,” she says.
Freelance writer/editor Ken Garfield is a frequent contributor to The Ledger. Reach him at garfieldken3129@gmail.com.
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