For 47-year-old Annette Fredskov, when a 2010 Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis was given to her she decided to not to deal with the news sitting down.
Multiple Sclerosis can be a debilitating condition, and one that rarely shows much forgiveness to anyone. Where some see insurmountable extremes, others will see life’s next challenge waiting to be tackled. Fredskov, a part-time long distance runner at the time of her MS news, decided the best way to show her body who was boss was to push it to its physical limit. She still continues with that concept today, trying to show others fighting Multiple Sclerosis that life doesn’t stop with the diagnosis-it just might be different.
Did You Know
- Annette Fredskov is a Danish married mother of two. She, like 85% of MS sufferers, has what is called relapsing remitting MS-her symptoms are not always present, coming and going in waves.
- Those afflicted with MS can experience cognitive impairment, extreme fatigue and weakness, lack of coordination, vision issues and impaired sensation.
- At first Fredskov decided to run to prove to herself that she could live her life the way she wanted to despite the MS diagnosis.
- She ran her first marathon in Frankfurt, Germany in 2010. That lead to taking on shorter distance ‘cannonball’ marathons in 2011. Fifty-one in one year, in fact.
- In 2012 she took on the challenge of trying complete a marathon a day for an entire year to try and raise awareness about MS and inspire those with the condition.
- She completed her challenge in July of 2013 and in the process wore out 20 pairs of shoes during her daily 26.2 mile (42.2 kilometer) runs.
- She actually ran 366 marathons that year-she had one day where she managed to work in two.
- She decided to test her limits again in 2014 by entering a competition that required she complete five marathons in 48 hours.
- Not only did she complete the marathons, her running time of 22 hours, 27 minutes and 17 seconds placed her first amongst the eight competitors who took part.
- She recently completed her first quarter triathlon event, adding swimming and cycling into the mix now as well.
