Meet Team CMT Member Patricia Jett

Let’s welcome another runner from Virginia to Team CMT!

Patricia Jett was born and raised in Fredericksburg Virginia and still makes her home there.  She has a son Troy 16 and three cats. She works for the Department of the Army as a Contractor Officer Representative.  She joins a growing contingent of Team CMT members in Virginia including; Katie Ayala, Ruth Cook, Richard Cook, Will Cook, Barb Vonata, and Jay Faires. You guys have the biggest concentration of Team CMT members in any state! You join 61 athletes in 16 states.

Patricia ran her first 1/2 Marathon in Richmond, VA on 12 November 2011, Finished with a time of 2:52.  This is the same race Team CMT members Ruth Cook ran. Richard Cook and Katie Ayala ran the full marathon on the same day and Richard had a Boston qualifying time.

She has big plans to represent Team CMT in the Richmond area. She is looking at running the National 1/2 Marathon coming up in March in Washington DC and possibly the Marine Corp 1/2 Marathon in Fredericksburg, VA.

She became interested in Team CMT after training with Richard Cook.  He has CMT and just finished the Richmond Marathon.  He is my inspiration and reason I ran the 1/2 Marathon in Richmond.  To see what he goes through to complete runs makes me ask, why do I complain about anything?  His family is so committed to his adventures that if makes one feel good about themselves and helps to make their own goals/bucket list.  I can now check off my 1/2 Marathon leaving the Marathon box un-checked.

Welcome to Team CMT! We are proud to have you with us! Thanks for being part of our adventure and for helping us to raise awareness. Those of us on the team with CMT thank you. We all realize how blessed we are to be running.

Chris Wodke

http://www.run4cmt.com/

Team CMT is a group of athletes and supporters working to raise awareness and to find a cure for CMT. We have almost 100 members in 17 states. If you wish to join us visit our web site.

CMT or Charcot-Marie-Tooth is the most commonly inherited peripheral neuropathy. It affects over 155,000 Americans (as many as MS).  It is a disease of the nerves that control the muscles. It is slowly progressive, causing loss of normal function and or sensation in the lower legs/feet and arms/hands.

Symptoms include; muscle wasting in the lower legs and feet leading to foot drop, poor balance and gait problems Atrophy in the hands causes difficulty with manual dexterity.

Structural foot deformities such as high arches and hammer toes are common.

Poor tolerance for cool or cold temperatures and many people have chronically cold hands and feet.

Additional symptoms may include fatigue, sleep apnea, breathing difficulties and hearing loss.

Running, triathlons, impaired athlete, paratriathlon, USAT, running and CMT