The running world's elites come together to create a live a silent auction to benefit the Jenny Crain Make it Happen Fund

Jenny Crain was, in the not to distant past, one of the top female runners in the country. Boasting personal bests of 32:30 for 10,000m, 1:15:05 for the half-marathon and 2:37:36 for the marathon, she was the top American finisher in the 2004 ING New York City Marathon, and finished 11th at the 2004 Olympic Trials. In August of 2007, she was struck by a car in a Milwaukee intersection near her home while training for her third Olympic Trials Marathon. An in-depth description of the accident was written up in a recent issue of Runner's World.

Her recovery has been slow, painful and expensive. The consequences of her accident were fractured vertebrae, shattered jaw, bruised her aorta, and massive brain damage. The one-time national class distance runner is now in a wheelchair and struggles with every day tasks like reading and holding a cup of tea. She is not paralized, but she has difficulty walking due to brain trauma.

Since day 1, and continuing over the years since the accident, there has been a tremendous outpouring of support from both the Milwaukee community and the entire running community around the US. On February 4th, the Jenny Crain Make it Happen Fund has planned a "Make It Happen Benefit" at the Whiskey Bar at 788 N Jackson St, Milwaukee, WI. More and continually updated information can be found on the Benefit's Facebook page.

More importantly, for the cyber running community, is that this benefit has exploded with donations of coveted items that are available for bidding via email. As of this writing, the live auction items are:

Pre-bid Items

1. 2010 Boston Marathon VIP Spectator Package – Race day seating in bleachers at the Boston Marathon finish line + two race day hospitality invitations. A priceless gift for that special partner or friend who has supported you in your Boston Marathon training.

2. 2009 New York City Marathon Poster – An official 2009 NYC Marathon poster signed by all four marathon Winners - Meb Keflezighi, Derartu Tulu, Kurt Fearnley, and Edith Hunkeler. View a copy of the poster in the Auction Photo Album.

3. Weekend in Portland, OR for a “Day in the Life of the Oregon Project” – Another priceless opportunity. The winning bidder and a lucky friend will be hosted by Amy Yoder Begley for a weekend in Portland, OR to experience a "Day in the life of the Oregon Project" - this is the group led by Alberto Salazar and includes Adam & Kara Goucher, Matt Tegenkamp, and others. These athletes are training at the highest level. The winning bidder and a friend will be able to watch workouts, meet athletes, tour the Nike campus, and have the opportunity to shop at the Nike employee store. This item includes air travel via Southwest Airlines frequent flyer tickets and hotel for the weekend. The winning bidder will make schedule arrangements directly with Amy. Note that Amy will probably not be available for the tour from June-September.

4. Elite Level Personal Coaching for the Marathon or Race of Your Choice – How would you like to have Elite Runner and Elite Coach Brad Hudson coach you to a great performance in the marathon or race of your choice? You may not recognize Brad’s name but you will certainly recognize the runners he has coached and is coaching – the likes of Shayne Culpepper and Dathan Ritzenhein. Note this recent article from the New York Road Runners page. Brad is also the author of “Run Faster from 5K to the Marathon”. This item will include a personal training plan and personal telephone coaching access to Brad – a value of $150/month.

5. “Duel in the Sun – Alberto Salazar, Dick Beardsley and America’s Greatest Marathon” by John Brant – John is also the author of the recent Runner’s World article about Jenny and the author of this is a very popular. Some of you may have the book – we’d guess that none of you have a copy signed by John AND Alberto Salazar AND Dick Beardsley! The three of them made this special effort just for this auction. This item also includes a Dick Beardsley Foundation technical shirt with a photo of Dick. One lucky and generous bidder could own these very unusual items.

6. 1979 Boston Marathon Poster signed by Winner Bill Rodgers – Perhaps you were at Boston that year; maybe you have met Bill; or maybe you have admired his tenacity, love of running and love of runners. Bill is a special person in our sport and understands how special Jenny is to all of us – hence his donation of this very special item. It can be yours.

7. Mammoth Track Club Women’s Hooded Sweatshirt (M) Signed by Club Members + photos signed by Deena Kastor and Anna Pierce – Take a look at these items in the Auction Photo Gallery. This sweatshirt is signed by people that we only read about in magazines – Meb Keflezighi, Deena Kastor, Jen Rhines, Ryan Hall, and so many others. Understand that these items were sent especially for our auction. Additional items from the Mammoth Track Club will be available at the event.

8. 2008 Olympic Uniform - Kim Keenan-Kirkpatrick, Assistant Coach for 2008 Team USA Track and Field Squad has donated a part of her own Olympic uniform – a women’s rain suit size large. A great id item and practical, too!

9. Ekiden Uniform signed by Jenny and her Ekiden Team – Many people in the US are not familiar with this special type of marathon relay. It is very popular in Japan – Jenny competed in these events representing the US. We have a generous donation of a set of team “sweats” that they wore when the traveled – the uniform is signed by all team members and coaches, including Jenny. The uniform is men’s size L.

E-mail Bid Items

1. Pabst Theater Tickets for Country star Jamey Johnson - E-mail Only Bid – See this rising Country star in the comfort of Milwaukee’s historic Pabst Theater. Tickets are for the February 6th performance and are valued at $55. Due to the timing of this performance, bids will close on Sunday January 24th.

2. Entries to AJC Peachtree Road Race – This July 4th 10k road race sells out every year at its 55,000 limit – even at that level it is VERY difficult to get into. Jenny competed in this race as an Elite Athlete several times and has very good memories of her times there. They also have great memories of Jenny – they were one of the first to step forward to offer a donation to her benefit. This is your chance to run this iconic race – without spending a weekend on-line or trusting the luck of the paper entry lottery.

3. 99th ING Bay to Breakers 12k – Speaking of iconic races…Bay to Breakers defines the term. This race starts in downtown San Francisco and finishes in Golden Gate Park – this is the race famous for the centipedes, outrageous costumes, nak** runners, and everything else that San Francisco has to offer. This is a race that sells out, leaving many runners disappointed and whining… Want to run in 2010? Not to worry, we have 2 entries to the May 16, 2010 race. Almost priceless but available to a generous bidder.

4. Collection of “must have” books from our friends at Runner’s World – “My Life on the Run” by Bart Yasso, “Complete Book of Running” by Amby Burfoot, and “The Runner’s Rule Book” by Mark Remy – ALL autographed by the authors. We’ll also throw in the Runner’s World 2010 Calendar. We have two sets of books/calendar – one will be available at the silent auction.

5. Items specially autographed by Dick Beardsley – Copy of his book “Staying the Course”; New Balance running cap; and Dick Beardsley Foundation technical shirt and pair of running socks. If you have not read “Staying the Course” you really need to read Dick’s story. If you have read it, it will be even more special with Dick’s autograph.

Information is being constanting updated on the facebook page, so please take a look. Bids will be accepted using an e-mail address set up exclusively for this purpose - [email protected].

Update: according to the Benefit's Facebook page, every $75 raised will pay for one hour of therapy for Jenny.

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