Wendy Booker is on an amazing journey. Not only has she tackled marathons, mountains and ice… she’s doing it with multiple sclerosis.
Diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS in 1998, Wendy did not consider herself an athlete. She did however know that she was not going to take her diagnosis sitting down – she wanted to fight back! Her real adventure began by a girlfriend’s invitation and challenge to run with her in the Boston Marathon. Wendy ran the marathon and never looked back.
Since then she has run twelve marathons, climbed the Seven Summits of the world – attempting Everest twice in the process, mushed to the North Pole and skied to the South Pole – setting records and breaking through barriers all the way.
Always on the lookout for her next great adventure, Wendy has most recently been training with a team of sled dogs in Alaska with plans to someday race in the Iditarod, the Last Great Race, with a burning passion to further get attention on how far treatments for Multiple Sclerosis have come in the last 20 years.
Wendy has also become a National Ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society sharing her message across the country to the MS community. As her mission and adventures have expanded so has her speaking audience. Wendy now speaks at corporate conferences, schools, universities, fundraisers and athletic events. She ties in her adventures with what it takes to face a challenge be it medical, financial, teamwork, and/or goal setting.
Her message always reminds her audience that serendipity, stubbornness and self-discovery can lead to amazing things and positive outcomes. Wendy is now using her mission to become a voice for the patient as a patient advocate and consultant in the health care, pharmaceutical and medical device industries.
Her first book, New Altitude, was published last year and shares her amazing journey since her diagnosis and the attitude that allows her to live a happy and healthy life despite living with MS.
In 2006 Wendy began volunteering her time in Mr. Cleere’s fourth grade class at The Donald McKay Elementary School in East Boston. Her mission, much like that of her speaking and patient advocacy, is to challenge children to take control of their lives. She uses her climbs of the Seven Summits to teach the class about cultures, community and to think globally about their world.
In 2008, with the class, Wendy started The Other Side of Everest Educational Foundation. The mission is to connect the children of challenged communities with the children of Nepal who have lost their fathers in climbing accidents. Since 2009 Wendy and Mr. Cleere’s class have raised money in a campaign called “Pennies for Sherpa” sending needy children of the Khumbu Valley, Nepal to school assuring them an education and future.
Every June Wendy takes the children of The Donald McKay up Mt. Monadnock, a 3000 foot mountain in New Hampshire. For most this is their first time challenging themselves on a mountain. Whatever challenges Wendy undertakes, the mission is always to educate, motivate and challenge anyone facing an obstacle in life to push through and climb on – the view from the top is breathtaking!
“We are so grateful for your words of inspiration and motivating energy at the National Conference…You really helped our Silpada girls discover that a hero truly does live in each of us.”
“You were incredible at last week’s luncheon – beyond amazing! I just sang your praises on a networking call for officers throughout the Society. I saw that you connected with everyone in the room and that is not as easy task.”
"Do you want inspiration? Do you want to laugh? Do you want to be challeneged to think about your life differently while laughing? Then listen to Wendy Booker, a woman getting through each day, who figured out that just because you think you have everything, there is more to life when you run into a mountain of challenges, so what do you do? Learn to climb mountains! Wendy Booker should be a speaker to your group, staff, church, business network so you have the chance, as we did, to be positive and look at the world, our lives, our loved ones with new hope. She wowed us at the 7th Annual Conference in Fall 2013 and we still are speaking about her presentation."
“Wendy Booker captivated the audience with her incredible story of overcoming the odds with hard work, determination, grace and a whole lot of humor. I highly recommend her if you are looking for a speaker to entertain and motivate your audience.”