With just over three miles left until the finish line, Linda Poggensee’s day at the Chicago Marathon in October came to an abrupt end at mile 23.
A sudden leg fracture prematurely halted that day’s race for the La Grange resident, but she was determined to run again.
“I had been in pain prior to the fall,” recalled Poggensee, 63, a dedicated distance runner who speculates that she may have slipped on some road debris. She suspects the break was the culmination of a fracture that actually started to form mid-race, perhaps due to osteopenia, or low bone density.
“I was in pain but also very annoyed because I was so close to the end,” she said. “Several people stopped to help me up, or even to help me run, including a friend from my running group. But I couldn’t even walk because I felt ‘disconnected’ from my foot, which was true, since my femur had cracked fully across.”
Emergency surgery at Rush University Medical Center installed a titanium rod and four screws in Poggensee’s cracked femur. At first, it appeared that she wouldn’t be running again anytime soon, let alone the Tokyo Marathon, in which she was scheduled to participate in March.
“Thanks to the incredible medical staff at Rush, I was told I could bear weight from day one – in theory,” she said, adding it was too painful to try that first day. “As for running a marathon only a few months later, they told me to look for a PT that worked with runners.”
A retired biostatistician who worked at Hines VA Hospital for nearly 20 years, Poggensee was led to Perform Physical Therapy in Countryside and Burr Ridge, where the owner was a marathon runner, as was the therapist who would be working with Poggensee.
Following surgery in October, Poggensee spent the next two months in intensive physical therapy. Starting with a walker, she gradually transitioned to using a cane while focusing on mobility and non-impact strength training. “Through a lot of strength work and a ‘return-to-running’ program – jumps to hops to short runs – they got me ready,” Poggensee said.
By January, she made a cautious return to fast walking and jogging. A month later, she was on to peak training using combined walking and running under strict medical supervision, to ensure bone density and muscle readiness. “I knew I was ready when I could run/walk for three to four hours and cover 16 miles or more,” she said.
By March, she was ready for the Tokyo Marathon, in which Poggensee had won a spot via lottery just a few weeks before sustaining her injury. With only a 10% chance of making it in, she wasn’t about to give it up. “I couldn’t defer, despite my broken leg. Although my doctors were hesitant, they didn’t say no to the March 1 marathon. So, I couldn’t say no either,” she said.
“It’s hard to qualify for Tokyo unless you’re an elite or semi-elite runner,” she explained. “My time was nowhere near my typical times, but I walked more than a third of it,” and by using strategic run/walk intervals, she accomplished her two goals for the race, “to stay out of the medical tent and ambulances … and finish ahead of the ‘sweepers.’ Tokyo has several cutoff points, and if you don’t make them, they pull you off the course.”
A native of Minnesota’s Twin Cities, Poggensee has “always been a runner but only recently started doing longer races.” She ran her first half marathon in 2019 after a friend of her husband’s who was a new runner ran one. “I realized I had never done one. I signed up for my first marathon – 2022 in Berlin – shortly before retiring, as a retirement ‘project,’ and because it was during Oktoberfest.”
Married for 36 years, Poggensee and her husband, Bob, who grew up in the western suburbs, have two grown daughters, Maeve and Katie, who support their mom’s running adventures.
“They’ve cheered for me at every marathon and half marathon,” Poggensee said. “Our daughters have been inspired to run, and Maeve recently completed her first half marathon. Family, friends and neighbors were wonderful during my recovery, (helping out) with meals, flowers, driving for groceries and therapy, walking our dog when it was icy or snowy.”
And Bob’s been at Linda’s side every step of the way.
“When she got hurt at the Chicago Marathon, I was disappointed for her. She trained really hard for that one and was so close,” Bob Poggensee said. “Watching her at PT, she always had a super positive attitude. Once she got into Tokyo, Linda was always about how she’ll do it, not if she’ll do it. I really enjoy following her around at the marathons and cheering her on. She’s really strong and I’m very proud of her.”
With her success in Tokyo, Poggensee has now completed four of the Abbott World Marathon Majors: Berlin, New York, Chicago and Tokyo, with Boston and London remaining before she can claim her Six Star Medal.
“I plan on running and building back my endurance, then speed,” she said. “I still can’t run 10 minutes without stopping. I’m not sure what races are next, but hopefully someday, the London and Boston marathons.”
Poggensee credits “great medical care” and her “awesome PT Megan” for her ability to bounce back after such a traumatic injury. “I also had a rehab plan that I stuck with – I did all my PT exercises,” and her therapist “listened to my concerns, and was optimistic yet realistic.”
Age has never been an issue, Poggensee said, noting that her sister-in-law, who’s over 65, recently started running and loves it. “Although several people couldn’t believe I wanted to do a marathon so soon after breaking my leg,” Poggensee said, “none of my doctors or therapists, or family, prevented me from trying.”
Jim Dudlicek is a freelancer.
