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 Championships | 53rd | 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:
- Jenny Crain Make It Happen Benefit fund to help pay for ongoing medical expenses. (For more information, become a ‘friend’ on the Jenny Crain Make It Happen Benefit Facebook page.[9] )
- The Milwaukee community has hosted a variety of benefits including auctions, Make It Happen wrist bands, races, the Make it Happen Mile, and set the Guinness World Record for “most people linked together to complete a marathon” with 62 roped-together runners, competing as Team Jennipede at Milwaukee’s 2011 Lakefront Marathon.[10]
- “The Runner’s Cookbook, Winning Recipes from Some of the World’s Best Athletes.” Half of the proceeds from the sale of this cookbook go to the Jenny Crain Make It Happen Fund.[11]
- USA Track & Field started a Jenny Crain Mentoring Program which helps maximize opportunities and resources for developing athletes, a mentoring role that Crain wholeheartedly fostered during her competitive days.[12]
External links
www.jennycrain.net – a web home for Jenny Crain’s recovery
www.runnerscookbook.com – The Runner’s Cookbook
References
- ↑ "Jenny Crain".
- ↑ Clemmons, Anna Katherine. "Jenny Crain". Runner's World.
- ↑ "USATF Athlete Biography Jenny Crain".
- ↑ Brant, John (November 2009). "Close To Home". Runner's World: 82–91,109,113–115.
- ↑ "Results".
- ↑ "PanAm Full Results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-28.
- ↑ "IAAF World Half Marathon Championships 1997: Women Athletes Biographies". Retrieved June 1, 2012.
- ↑ Brant, John (November 2009). Runner's World: 82–91, 109, 113–115 http://www.runnersworld.com/article/1,7120,s6-243-297--13329-0,00.html. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ "Jenny Crain Make It Happen Benefit".
- ↑ "It's Official. Team Running for Jenny Crain secures Guinness Record in Lakefront Marathon". Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel.
- ↑ "The Runner's Cookbook".
- ↑ "USATF announces The Jenny Crain Mentoring Program".