BOSTON -- Running 26.4 miles is no small feat, but for one Massachusetts woman, finishing the Boston Marathon is only one of many challenges she has faced and conquered with a sense of determination she hopes will inspire others.

NewsCenter 5's Heather Unruh reported Thursday that Wendy Booker is pounding the pavement in preparation for her fifth Boston Marathon. She uses the 26-mile trek from Hopkinton to Boston to help her train for her other passion -- climbing mountains.

Booker has reached the summit of some of the world's highest peaks -- including Alaska's Mount McKinley. But what you can't tell by looking at the athletic 51-year-old is that she has multiple sclerosis.

"I'm numb from the toes of my left foot to about the top of my rib cage, and then I do get some vision troubles in my left eye," Booker said.

Booker is one of 400,000 Americans living with multiple sclerosis -- a chronic disease of the central nervous system in which the immune system attacks healthy areas of the body as if they were foreign.

"I started to use mountain climbing as a metaphor for what life with MS is like. We can't always do what we want when we want. When conditions mandate, we take a little longer, try a little harder and dig a little deeper," Booker said.

There is currently no cure for multiple sclerosis. Booker exercises and takes medication that controls the symptoms of the disease. But according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, many people with multiple sclerosis don't take their prescribed therapy -- either due to lack of education or a fear of the needles used for injections.

Booker has made it her mission to inspire others with multiple sclerosis to challenge themselves and their disease.

"Maybe it's going from your sofa to your mailbox, and using your walker instead of your wheelchair. And maybe you only get as far as your kitchen -- doesn't matter. Because when you turn back and look from where you have come not only did you do it, but you did it with multiple sclerosis. That's the reward," Booker said.

Booker is running this year's marathon for the Central Mass chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society. But she isn't stopping there. She plans to run the Chicago Marathon later this year, and be the first woman with multiple sclerosis to make it to the top of the seven summits -- the highest mountains on each continent.

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Video: Inspiring Runner

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