Jenny Crain (born February 12, 1968 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American retired runner. She competed in the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championship in distances from 3000 meters to the marathon and in the U.S. Olympic Trials at 5,000m, 10,000m and

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

distances. On August 21, 2007, while on a training run for her fourth Olympic Marathon Trials, an automobile driver hit Crain. She suffered a myriad of injuries including extensive brain damage, ending her competitive running career and starting a lifetime of rehabilitation.

Running career

Jenny Crain followed her brother, Peter, into competitive running in at Franklin High School in Franklin, Wisconsin. She continued her running at

Ohio University Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...

where she earned All- MAC honors. After college, Crain put running on hold while pursuing a different professional career until deciding to train for and compete in the 1996 Olympic Trials.

Traffic collision and rehab

On August 21, 2007, while on a training run for her fourth Olympic Marathon trials, a driver hit Crain while she was crossing the intersection at Brady and Farwell streets in her hometown of

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

. The collision fractured Crain's vertebrae, shattered her jaw, bruised her aorta, and caused massive brain damage. The

traumatic brain injury A traumatic brain injury (TBI), also known as an intracranial injury, is an injury to the brain caused by an external force. TBI can be classified based on severity (ranging from mild traumatic brain injury TBI/concussionto severe traumatic b ...

resulted in a loss of spatial awareness, reading ability limitations, short-term memory impairment, difficulty walking, and balance problems. Crain’s treatment included acute hospital care at Froedert Hospital, specialized critical care for brain injury at Milwaukee’s Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Institute, and continual therapy for over 1.5 years at Mt. Carmel. As of 2009, Crain required assisted living in her condo, and was involved in daily therapy sessions. A number of initiatives were launched in response to Crain's accident: * Jenny Crain Make It Happen Benefit fund to help pay for ongoing medical expenses. * 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 ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for "most people linked together to complete a marathon" with 62 roped-together runners, competing as Team Jennipede at Milwaukee’s 2011 Lakefront Marathon. * "The Runner’s Cookbook, Winning Recipes from Some of the World’s Best Athletes." Half of the proceeds from the sale of this cookbook went to the Jenny Crain Make It Happen Fund. *

USA Track & Field USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and ...

started a Jenny Crain Mentoring Program which helps maximize opportunities and resources for developing athletes.

Results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crain, Jenny Living people 1968 births Track and field athletes from Milwaukee American female long-distance runners American female marathon runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1999 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2003 Pan American Games Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States 21st-century American women