Jeanie Dreyer - Running Because She Can!

BFF Suzi Larson and Jeanie Dreyer - Ready to run Boston !

Two years ago, at the age of 39, Jeanie, the mother of TWO sets of twins, made a decision to get into the best shape of her life.  On that path, she had just finished her first triathlon.  A trip to the doctor to inquire about a cyst on her chest turned out to be very bad news, and in June, 2010 her life came to a complete halt when she found out that she had multiple myeloma.

"I went from being in the best shape of my life to being a cancer patient supported 24 hours a day on morphine.  My body appeared to be weakening by the day, along with my spirit and my hope.  My children saw me go from "superwoman" to a tired, weak, depressed soul."

An autologous stem cell transplant in September saved her life, but recovery was slow.  By the next March (2011) Jeanie found herself ready to regain her strength and soon returned to her first love, running.  In October, 2011, less than 11 months after the transplant, Jeanie completed the Bay State Marathon.  It was a tough race to be sure, but great prep for her BIG goal:  to run the Boston Marathon again in 2012, after 20 years.   Running along side of her will be her closest friend, Suzi Larson, who was not only with her at Bay State, but through all of the cancer treatments as well.

"I am blessed to be running each and every of the 26.2 miles of the challenging Boston course with my MMRF PowerTeam shirt.  However long it takes to finish (I've had to adjust my goals, for sure)  will be enough of a reward for me.  I am proud to be running and raising money to support the MMRF and their goal to cure myeloma, a disease that has taken the lives of so many.", shares Jeanie.

"It has challenged me in more ways than I ever thought possible.  It has changed the priorities in my life completely.  Although the future may be unknown, today I am strong in mind, body and spirit.  Running has renewed my broken spirit.  I run today, because I can."