Bio

Chris Wodke

Team CMT Founder

All you have to know about Chris Wodke’s determination to find a cure for Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) is to learn about a life-changing moment in her life.

“When I was in graduate school for engineering I had to take a Thermodynamics class that required mathematically solving the laws of the physical science and its affect on material bodies. We were presented pages upon pages of equations, which had to be dissected to prove theories for our homework.”
Also part of the class requirement was to meet with the class professor each week to review our assignments. One day he said to me, ‘Christine you get so close to solving the problem, but then you quit.”

“I have never forgotten that comment. Whether it is finishing a race or solving a problem at work, I make sure I don’t give up too soon. I always remember his words when things get tough and I want to quit. I might be really close to the solution or the end of the race and his words keep me moving toward solutions.”

A Milwaukee native, who was diagnosed in 2010 with CMT, the 55-year-old Wodke not only puts many Baby Boomer women to shame with her physical fitness, but she maintains it all while fighting side-effects of CMT that include structural and muscular challenges that include bouts of tripping, burning sensations in her feet and atrophy.

One of seven children and two with CMT, the We Energies engineer stops at nothing to make people aware of the disease while putting her best feet forward whether she’s running in Iceland or kayaking in New Zealand, her favorite place to travel.

Wodke’s accomplilshed two major goals in 2012. She placed 2nd in the Mobility Impaired divison of the Boston Marathon and finished 1st in the Physically Challenged Open Division of the Paratriathlon National Sprint Championship in Austin Texas. She placed 2nd in the same race in 2013. She was on the Boston course in 2013 when the bombs exploded.