INDIANAPOLIS - USA Track & Field announced Thursday that the Jenny Crain Mentoring Program was officially kicked-off last weekend at the Aramco Houston Half Marathon, host of the 2009 USA Half Marathon Championships.
The mentoring program featured current and former top U.S. Athletes including Magdalena Lewy-Boulet, Matt Gabrielson and Elva Dryer, who spoke with emerging elite athletes about available resources for developing athletes as well as maximizing opportunities with sponsors and event directors.
The program was named in honor of Jenny Crain who was hit by a car as she finished a morning training run in her hometown of Milwaukee, Wis., in August 2007. A member of the 2005 Team USA World Championship Marathon squad, Crain was in training for her fourth Olympic Marathon Trials at the time of the accident.
"Jenny's enthusiasm and support for her fellow athletes has been missed in the national running community since the accident," said USATF Women's Long Distance Running Chair Virginia Brophy Achman. "As Jenny continues to improve and make strides in her recovery, USATF wants to provide an outlet to continue the work she has done for the sport of distance running."
Crain represented Team USA at multiple international competitions and was also a fixture on the USA Running Circuit. During her athletic career, she was well-known for her unbridled enthusiasm and she became a positive role model for up and coming athletes. At many of the USA Championship races, she would spend her free time both formally and informally talking with younger competitors about the nuances of life as a professional athlete, and the sacrifices and rewards it offers. Crain also served on the Women's Long Distance Running Executive Committee of USATF.
As Crain continues her rehabilitation, her family has set up the Jenny Crain Make it Happen Fund to help pay for uncovered medical expenses. If you would like more information on benefits and other programs to support Jenny, become a friend of the Jenny Crain Make it Happen Facebook page here.
The Jenny Crain Mentoring Program will be held in conjunction with USA Running Circuit events with the final edition hosted at the USA Women's 10 km Championships hosted by the Tuft's Health Plan 10K for Women October 11. As additional sessions are confirmed, additional information will be available at
www.usatf.org.
About USA Track & Field
USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States.
For more information on USATF, visit
www.usatf.org
