Wren’s Village: 7-year-old who beat cancer will race in virtual Keep Pounding 5K

CHAROTTE — Normally, dozens of people run through Bank of America Stadium to raise money for local pediatric cancer research, but the virus is forcing the annual Keep Pounding 5K to go virtual.

This year's race will mark a first for one local girl. Wren Jansen has been cancer-free for nearly 18 months and is running the 5K for the first time.

Sports anchor Matt Harris got to speak with the family that embodies what it means to “keep pounding.”

“Our daughter Wren, she was 3 years old, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at Levine Children’s Hospital,” said Brandi Jansen.

At just 3 years of age, through needles, chemotherapy, and radiation treatment, Wren displayed amazing strength -- with a smile.

“All of her memories are good ones there,” Brandi Jansen said. “And I really credit Child Life and our nurses and our doctors for that.”

With any fight, it takes a village.

“We call them Wren’s Village and people just really latched on to this idea that they couldn’t do anything for Wren, but they could support the people who were taking care of Wren,” Brandi Jansen said.

In 2017, as Wren Jansen fought, Wren’s Village ran. The Keep Pounding 5K, now in its 10th year, is an annual race benefiting cancer research efforts. This year, it will be virtual.

Wren Jansen has now been cancer-free for almost a year and a half. This May, for the first time ever, her sneakers will pound the pavement.

“Just a few weeks ago, Wren and I went out to try to run,” Brandi Jansen told Channel 9. “I was like, ‘Let’s just see if we can do it.’ And she ran three whole miles without stopping.”

Now seven years old, Wren Jansen continues to embody what it means to keep pounding.

“How lucky are we that we get to do it together and we get to support the people that were there for us when we needed it most?” Brandi Jansen said. “We will keep pounding, we will keep fighting until there is no more cancer.”

If Wren’s story inspired you to lace up your shoes and run or walk, you have until Saturday to do so. You can sign up on the race website here.

The race proceeds benefit clinical research for cancer at Atrium Health’s Levine Cancer Institute and Levine Children’s Hospital.

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