Jenny Crain

Jenny Crain (born February 12, 1968 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin[1] ) was an elite American runner, competing in USA Outdoor Track and Field Championship track and road races ranging in distance from 3000 meters to the marathon and in the U.S. Olympic Trials at 5,000m, 10,000m and marathon distances. Crain followed her brother, Peter, into competitive running in high school (Franklin HS, Wisconsin)[2] and continued her running at Ohio University where she earned All-MAC honors[3] (1987–1990). After college she put her competitive running career on hold while pursuing a professional career until deciding to train for and compete in the 1996 Olympic Trials. On August 21, 2007, while on a training run for her fourth Olympic Marathon Trials, Crain was hit by an automobile, while crossing the intersection between Brady and Farwell streets in her hometown of Milwaukee. Jenny suffered a myriad of injuries including extensive brain damage, ending her competitive running career and starting a life-time of rehabilitation.[4]

Professional Racing Career[5]

Year Event Place Time
2005 Mt. Sac Relays 10000 3rd 33:05
2005 USA 10000 Championships 7th 33:07.43
2005 USA 15 km Championships 6th 51:21 (PR)
2005 USA 8 km Championships 5th 26:24
2004 USA Olympic Trials - 10000 10th 33:19
2004 USA 20 km Championships 3rd 1:10:58 (PR)
2004 USA 10 km Championships 5th 33:28
2004 USA Olympic Trials - Marathon 11th 2:37:36 (PR)
2004 ING NYC Marathon 15th 2:41:06
2003 USA Championships 10000m 5th 32:49
2003 Pan American Games 10000 6th 34:40.19
2003 USA 10 km Championships 3rd 33:16
2003 ING NYC Marathon 16th 2:38:49
2001 Eugene Twilight Meet 5000m 3rd 15:36
2000 USA Olympic Trials - 5000m 14th 15:49
2000 USA Olympic Trials - 10000m 10th 32:42
2000 USA Olympic Trials - Marathon 14th 2:42:12
1999 Pan-Am Games Marathon 7th 2:54:19[6]
1999 USA Outdoors 10000 19th 34:13:43
1998 Columbus Marathon 2nd 2:40:31 (PR)
1998 USA Outdoors 10000 5th 34:33.59
1998 Stanford Invitational 5000 1st 16:01.45 (PR)
1998 Mt SAC 10000 1st 32:30.01 (PR)
1998 Charlotte Observer Marathon 1st 2:45:26
1997 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships53rd 1:15.05 (PR)[7]
1997 California International Marathon 9th 2:46:57
1997 USA 10 Mile Champs 8th 56:52
1997 USA 5K Road Champs 12th
1997 USA Outdoor 10000 9th 33:59.03
1997 USA Indoor 3000 7th 9:25:08 (PR)
1996 Chicago Marathon 11th 2:44:21
1996 Drake Relays 2nd 34:11.26
1996 Sea-Ray Relays 2nd 34:35.97
1996 USA Olympic Marathon Trials 84th 2:52:47
1995 Tucson Marathon 1st 2:50:01

The Accident – and Rehabilitation

The August accident, between Crain, running, and a car driving through a downtown Milwaukee intersection, fractured her vertebrae, shattered her jaw, bruised her aorta, and caused massive brain damage. The traumatic brain injury (TBI) has resulted in a loss of spatial awareness, reading ability limitations, short-term memory impairment, difficulty walking, and balance problems. Crain’s post-accident rehabilitation is as rigorous as her competitive training regimen. It has evolved from acute hospital care at Froedert Hospital, to specialized critical care for brain injury at Milwaukee’s Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Institute, to continual therapy for over 1.5 years at Mt. Carmel, a long-term traumatic brain injury rehab care facility and now to assisted living, in her own condo, traveling to daily therapy sessions where progress continues to be made in speech, motor skills, and mobility.[8]


A number of initiatives have been launched in response to the accident:

External links

www.jennycrain.net – a web home for Jenny Crain’s recovery

www.runnerscookbook.com – The Runner’s Cookbook

References

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