Jennifer "Jen" Toomey (born December 19, 1971) is an American middle-distance runner who won three US national titles, broke an American record, and was a world ranked runner from 2001 to 2006.

Career

Toomey, now Boyd, grew up in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, graduated from

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

with a degree in

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

, and was later based in Salem. In high school, she had quit her track team hating the sport. Almost ten years later, she took up running seriously in 1999 after training for the

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by eight cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was ins ...

and by 2001 had a third-place finish in the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.On the Fast Track: The Dot-Com Bust Sent Salem's Jennifer Toomey to a Track to See Just How Fast She Could Run Two Loops. The Answer: Very. Are the Olympics Next?
, ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'', June 13, 2004. Retrieved January 26, 2013 In February 2004 she broke the US indoor record for 1,000m in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England, making her the 4th fastest woman all-time in this event.Shipley, Amy (2004)
Toomey: All in Good Time; American Record Holder Is Hitting Her Stride at 32
, ''

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'', February 28, 2004. Retrieved January 26, 2013 She won her first US indoor titles in 2004, winning the 800m final in 2:00.02 and the 1500m final in 4:09.82, the first female athlete to accomplish this double.Golen, Jimmy (2004)
Jen Toomey Takes Double at U.S. Indoors
, AP Online, March 1, 2004.Thompson, Rich (2004)

, ''

Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American conservative daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarde ...

'', March 1, 2004.} She won the 1500m again in 2005.Golen, Jimmy (2008)
Toomey hoping to propel comeback at Boston Indoor meet
, ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'', January 24, 2008. Retrieved January 26, 2013Marrapese-Burrell, Nancy (2005)
Toomey feeling good about win in 1,500
, ''The Boston Globe'', February 27, 2005. Retrieved January 26, 2013 With an outdoor 800m personal best of 1:59.75 outdoors and 1:59:64 indoors, gained in 2003 and 2004 respectively, Toomey was regarded as one of the best 800-meter runners in the world in the mid-2000s.Athlete Profile: Jennifer Toomey
, iaaf.org. Retrieved January 26, 2013Matson, Barbara (2008) "Home run was timely", ''The Boston Globe'', January 26, 2008 She finished second in the 1500m at the US Olympic trials but was prevented from competing in the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

by a knee injury and an adductor strain. She subsequently relocated to

Flagstaff, Arizona Flagstaff ( ), known locally as Flag, is the county seat of Coconino County, Arizona, in the southwestern United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 76,831. Flagstaff is the principal city of the Coconino Cou ...

, where she worked with coach Jack Daniels. She returned to competition, clocking personal bests at 1500m in 2005 (indoors) and a mile in 2006 (outdoors), but had to again take a break due to injuries including

stress fracture A stress fracture is a fatigue-induced bone fracture caused by repeated stress over time. Instead of resulting from a single severe impact, stress fractures are the result of accumulated injury from repeated submaximal loading, such as running ...

s in both feet, and a torn

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) In physics (particularly liquid statics), the meniscus (: menisci, ) is the curve in the upper sur ...

. She returned to Salem and her old coach Tom McDermott, and made a competitive comeback in 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toomey, Jen 1971 births Living people Track and field athletes from Connecticut American female middle-distance runners Tufts Jumbos women's track and field athletes 21st-century American women Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences alumni