Meet Team CMT member Dawn Fritzell

" It doesn't matter how slow you go, as long as you do not stop." Lao-Tzu

Welcome Dawn to Team CMT. She was one of our first members and joined after seeing an article in the national CMTA newsletter.

Dawn Fritzell is from Appleton. She recently completed the Cheesehead Half Marathon in Hilbert Wisconsin.  This 53 year old finished in a very nice time of 2 hr 4 minutes and some change.  She is pictured here with her daughter Rachel 14, son Ken 10 and her husband John. All three have CMT.  Dawn asked to join the team to support them.

She is also a member of the Fox Cities Pace Setters Running club. She will be running in the Fox Cities Half Marathon on Sunday September 18th. I ran the same event exactly one year old. I used the event as a fundraiser for the CMTA. It was my first race after my own diagnosis.  I had not run a race in many years, but decided to return to competition because I relized what a gift it is to have CMT and still be able to run.

Those of us on the team, especially those of us with CMT realize our running is not about times and medals.  We run because we still can and want to keep running as long as we can. 
Many Team CMT members have family members affected by CMT, they run for them. It doesn't matter how fast we run or how many medals we win, although those are nice. What is important is that we don't stop.... and we won't. Not until we reach our vision of a world without CMT.

Good luck this weekend Dawn! We're proud to have you on Team CMT!

Chris Wodke
Founder & Manager Team CMT
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