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, 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. The mission is to connect the children of challenged communities with the children of Nepal who have lost their fathers in climbing accidents. 

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!