Jenny Crain

Jenny Crain followed her brother, Peter, into competitive running in at Franklin High School in Franklin, Wisconsin.{{cite web|last=Clemmons|first=Anna Katherine|title=Jenny Crain|url=http://www.runnersworld.com/article/1,7120,s6-243-292--8441-0,00.html|publisher=Runner's World}} She continued her running at Ohio University where she earned All-MAC honors.{{cite web|title=USATF Athlete Biography Jenny Crain|url=http://www.usatf.org/athletes/bios/TrackandFieldArchive/2000/crain.html}}

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.

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.{{cite journal|last=Brant|first=John|title=Close To Home|journal=Runner's World|date=November 2009|pages=82–91, 109, 113–115|url=http://www.runnersworld.com/article/1,7120,s6-243-297--13329-0,00.html}}

The collision fractured Crain's vertebrae, shattered her jaw, bruised her aorta, and caused massive brain damage. The traumatic brain injury 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.{{cite web|title=Jenny Crain Make It Happen Benefit|url=https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jenny-Crain-Make-it-Happen-Benefit/227019891628}}
• 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.{{cite web|title=It's Official. Team Running for Jenny Crain secures Guinness Record in Lakefront Marathon|url=http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/lifestyle/137974478.html#!page=1&pageSize=10&sort=newestfirst|publisher=Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel}}
• "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.{{cite web|title=The Runner's Cookbook|url=http://www.runnerscookbook.com/}}
• USA Track & Field started a Jenny Crain Mentoring Program which helps maximize opportunities and resources for developing athletes.{{cite web|title=USATF announces The Jenny Crain Mentoring Program|url=http://www.usatf.org/news/view.aspx?DUID=USATF_2010_01_21_12_04_22}}

{{cite web|title=Results|url=http://www.usatf.org}}

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Category:Living people

Category:1968 births

Category:Track and field athletes from Milwaukee

Category:American female long-distance runners

Category:American female marathon runners

Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1999 Pan American Games

Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2003 Pan American Games

Category:Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States

Category:20th-century American sportswomen

Category:21st-century American sportswomen