Q&A: Briana Boehmer, Coach of the Jenny Crain "Jennipede" Runners
At Sunday's Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon, the most talked-about runner crossed the line in 6 hours, 20 minutes. Make that runners—62 of them, in fact, who were tethered together via climbing rope and carabiners. Called the Jennipede, the runners had two missions for their unusual 26.2-mile run: first, to raise money for the continuing rehab for Jenny Crain, the elite runner who was hit by a car in August 2007, before the trials for the 2008 Beijing Olympics; and second, to set a Guinness Book World Record, which previously stood at 54 runners. We chatted with Briana Boehmer, the coach of the Jennipede and a friend and mentee of Crain’s, to get the lowdown on how to get 62 people, from first-time marathoners to Ironman triathletes, to run in sync. Runner's World: How did the Jennipede originate? Briana Boehmer: I coach a great athlete named Emily Kratz, who is always thinking up cool, new things to do in the athletic world. She thought of breaking the Guinness World Record in the marathon, but we wanted to do it for a purpose, which is where Jenny came in. Before her accident, Jenny was an outgoing and enthusiastic member of the Milwaukee running community. Everybody knew Jenny, and she’d cheer on anybody from an elite athlete to a weekend warrior. So how do you train a group of 62 runners to run together? We had people from six states and two countries—one runner flew in from Italy—so I wrote the training plan and we all ran on our own. As many runners who could, came together for regular training runs. Our longest run was 45 people linked together for 14 miles, which was great because we got some of the kinks worked out. What were some of the challenges? The Guinness Book is very specific about the record. We had to be tethered together from start to finish, finish in the order we started, and we couldn’t come unchained at any time. So we put duct tape around the carabiners so one couldn’t come unclipped unintentionally, and we zip-tied our belts—nobody was getting out! We had to figure out bathroom stops; the rope was really long, so at a bathroom break, we’d spool it out so everybody could use the porta-potty in privacy. We also had to figure out communication, so we nominated six captains along the Jennipede, and each one had a walkie talkie so we could talk to each other easily. How did you negotiate pace? The other Guinness rule is that you have to finish the marathon in the allotted time, which is 6 hours, 30 minutes for this marathon. So I planned on 13-minute miles for us, which would get us in around 5 hours, 45 minutes with two bathroom breaks, and give us a cushion if something went wrong. We were planning on running at an 11:30 pace, and then walking for a minute through the aid stations. Did everything go as planned on race day? Well, not quite. Somebody twisted his ankle around mile three and had to walk it off a bit, and somebody else fell off the side of the road. Our first bathroom stop was too long: 20 minutes instead of the planned 10, so I knew we had to hustle. The biggest hiccup was that around mile 17, a guy started cramping really bad. He had huge knots in his calf, and couldn’t really run. He was in agony. So we powerwalked the last 8 miles or so—and took one more emergency-only bathroom break.
We had some great times, though. We did the wave every time we passed a mile marker, we sang some random songs—the favorite was "The Chain Gang"—and we had some military guys in the Jennipede, so they did their chants. There were a bunch of signs all through the course, and the aid station volunteers were excited to see us and super helpful. When we got to the finish line, with 10 minutes to spare, there were a ton of people waiting for us. I seriously felt like I had won the marathon—that’s how much noise and support there was. Jenny was stationed right after the line, and gave each of us a high five. How is Jenny doing now? Brain injuries are really tricky. Her long-term memory is spot on, but she has a hard time remembering the short-term, current things. I have therapy with her twice a month, and I’ll ask her how she’s doing, and she’ll tell me about a day long ago. But she couldn’t walk a step when she got out of the hospital, and now she can walk a couple of miles with her cane. Although her progress is huge, she still needs a lot of care to get her back to where everybody wants to see her. How much money did you raise for her? Our goal was $75,000, which is what one year of her therapy costs. So far we’ve hit $108,000, and October 2 has been proclaimed Jenny Crain Day in the city and county, so her story won’t ever be buried. It’s great to be able to give back to her because she gave so much to this running community. To make a donation yourself, visit active.com/donate/jennycrain
