Jenny Crain

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 distances.

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, 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.

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

She continued her running at Ohio University where she earned All-MAC honors.

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.

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: