They were Jody and Jodiperhaps, those who knew them say, the perfect couple.
They had known each other most of their lives, dated for three years and were married for 12. They had one child, a daughter, Meghan, now 8.
“We were two peas in a pod,” John “Jody” Brammeier said in an interview the other day. “She was my soul mate.”
And then came October 2007, when Jodi first noticed the swelling in her fingers and feet, the distention of her abdomen. It would not subside. She dismissed it as somehow connected to her monthly cycle.
Months passed. The swelling persisted. And finally, on Jan. 31, 2008, Jodi called Jody. Her abdomen was on fire. She needed to go to the hospital.
The doctors at first thought it appendicitis, maybe a swollen ovary. The oncologist who was called in found Stage 3-C ovarian cancer. And it had spread.
The chemotherapy treatment nearly killed Jodi. It was in the intensive-care unit that she came up with the idea for a race. Sure, Jody consoled her, changing the subject.
“She meant it,” he recalled. “She was on it like a dog on a bone.”
From her hospital bed, she began seeking out groups. The board of the Colorado Ovarian Cancer Alliance, or COCA, was receptive to the idea, though warning her that probably no one would show up.
Still, they gave her a tiny amount of seed money.
“She really fought hard to put the race together,” Jody said. “She was tough and tenacious about it because she wanted it done right.”
She enlisted Jennifer Manta, a friend, to help her find sponsors and volunteers. The race was coming together.
On New Year’s Eve 2009, doctors told Jodi Brammeier there wasn’t much else they could do.
“I’m not giving up,” she told Jody.
She sought new cancer treatments in Arizona. Her health rallied. She worked harder on the race. That April, an infection set in. On Mother’s Day last year, she developed a high fever. She was hospitalized for the last time.
Jodi told Jody she wanted to go into hospice after the race. COCA, which earlier had named it the Teal Race for Awareness, surprised her by renaming it Jodi’s Race for Awareness.
Jody Brammeier, chief financial officer of Piñon Management, a Lakewood manager of elder-care facilities, pulls up footage on his computer from last year’s June 1 race at City Park.
We watch as a frail Jodi, seated in a wheelchair, high- fives every runner who crosses the finish line.
“If there had been awareness of the symptoms,” Jody said in almost a whisper, “Jodi would still be here.”
In a race that some said would be extremely lucky to draw 500 runners, 1,740 people finished. It netted $140,000 for ovarian-cancer research and awareness.
In the video, an exhausted Jody crosses the line and collapses into his wife’s arms. Moments later — “This is cute,” Jody said softly — Meghan crosses and is hugged warmly and kissed by her mother.
Jodi Brammeier, 44, died Aug. 3.
Jodi’s Race for Awareness will be run at 8 a.m. June 4 at City Park. More than 500 runners have already signed up. More than $35,000 already has been raised in sponsorships. Individual teams, too, have raised another $56,553 so far.
A website, , has full information on the race and ways to participate.
“This is my dream to Jodi, to give back to her,” said Jody Brammeier, 49.
Asked how many runners he expects this year, he said 2,011 — a goal he said his wife had set. He thinks he will reach it.
“She is now the spirit of this movement,” he said, “and I want to make sure Jodi’s dream continues.”
Bill Johnson writes Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Reach him at 303-954-2763 or wjohnson@denverpost.com.
