![\"Linda](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PPN-L-LAGRANGE-RUNNER-TOKYO-0409-04.jpg\")
Linda Poggensee, of La Grange, had won a lottery chance to participate in the Tokyo Marathon before breaking her leg during the Chicago Marathon, and she was determined not to miss her chance to be in the race in Japan. (Bob Poggensee)<\/p>\nWith just over three miles left until the finish line, Linda Poggensee\u2019s day at the Chicago Marathon in October came to an abrupt end at mile 23.<\/p>\n
A sudden leg fracture prematurely halted that day\u2019s race for the La Grange resident, but she was determined to run again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had been in pain prior to the fall,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was in pain but also very annoyed because I was so close to the end,\u201d she said. \u201cSeveral people stopped to help me up, or even to help me run, including a friend from my running group. But I couldn\u2019t even walk because I felt \u2018disconnected\u2019 from my foot, which was true, since my femur had cracked fully across.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emergency surgery at Rush University Medical Center installed a titanium rod and four screws in Poggensee\u2019s cracked femur. At first, it appeared that she wouldn\u2019t be running again anytime soon, let alone the Tokyo Marathon, in which she was scheduled to participate in March.<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks to the incredible medical staff at Rush, I was told I could bear weight from day one \u2013 in theory,\u201d she said, adding it was too painful to try that first day. \u201cAs for running a marathon only a few months later, they told me to look for a PT that worked with runners.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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. \u201cThrough a lot of strength work and a \u2018return-to-running\u2019 program \u2013 jumps to hops to short runs \u2013 they got me ready,\u201d Poggensee said.<\/p>\n
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. \u201cI knew I was ready when I could run\/walk for three to four hours and cover 16 miles or more,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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\u2019t about to give it up. \u201cI couldn\u2019t defer, despite my broken leg. Although my doctors were hesitant, they didn\u2019t say no to the March 1 marathon. So, I couldn\u2019t say no either,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Linda Poggensee, of La Grange, had won a lottery chance to participate in the Tokyo Marathon before breaking her leg during the Chicago Marathon, and she was determined not to miss her chance to be in the race in Japan. (Bob Poggensee)<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to qualify for Tokyo unless you\u2019re an elite or semi-elite runner,\u201d she explained. \u201cMy time was nowhere near my typical times, but I walked more than a third of it,\u201d and by using strategic run\/walk intervals, she accomplished her two goals for the race, \u201cto stay out of the medical tent and ambulances \u2026 and finish ahead of the \u2018sweepers.\u2019 Tokyo has several cutoff points, and if you don\u2019t make them, they pull you off the course.\u201d<\/p>\n
A native of Minnesota\u2019s Twin Cities, Poggensee has \u201calways been a runner but only recently started doing longer races.\u201d She ran her first half marathon in 2019 after a friend of her husband\u2019s who was a new runner ran one. \u201cI realized I had never done one. I signed up for my first marathon \u2013 2022 in Berlin \u2013 shortly before retiring, as a retirement \u2018project,\u2019 and because it was during Oktoberfest.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2019s running adventures.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve cheered for me at every marathon and half marathon,\u201d Poggensee said. \u201cOur 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
And Bob\u2019s been at Linda\u2019s side every step of the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen she got hurt at the Chicago Marathon, I was disappointed for her. She trained really hard for that one and was so close,\u201d Bob Poggensee said. \u201cWatching her at PT, she always had a super positive attitude. Once she got into Tokyo, Linda was always about how she\u2019ll do it, not if she\u2019ll do it. I really enjoy following her around at the marathons and cheering her on. She\u2019s really strong and I\u2019m very proud of her.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"La](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PPN-L-LAGRANGE-RUNNER-TOKYO-0409-03.jpg\")
La Grange resident Linda Poggensee spent two months in intensive physical therapy leading up to the Tokyo Marathon on March 1 after breaking her femur in October. (Bob Poggensee)<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI plan on running and building back my endurance, then speed,\u201d she said. \u201cI still can\u2019t run 10 minutes without stopping. I\u2019m not sure what races are next, but hopefully someday, the London and Boston marathons.\u201d<\/p>\n
Poggensee credits \u201cgreat medical care\u201d and her \u201cawesome PT Megan\u201d for her ability to bounce back after such a traumatic injury. \u201cI also had a rehab plan that I stuck with \u2013 I did all my PT exercises,\u201d and her therapist \u201clistened to my concerns, and was optimistic yet realistic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Age has never been an issue, Poggensee said, noting that her sister-in-law, who\u2019s over 65, recently started running and loves it. \u201cAlthough several people couldn\u2019t believe I wanted to do a marathon so soon after breaking my leg,\u201d Poggensee said, \u201cnone of my doctors or therapists, or family, prevented me from trying.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jim Dudlicek is a freelancer.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With just over three miles left until the finish line, Linda Poggensee\u2019s day at the Chicago Marathon in…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":706366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,232039,5404,232040,17073,1108,14685,1198,14686,210,14689,5386,1818,14692,14693,728,50,14703,14710,62,1072,14717],"class_list":["post-706365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago","tag-chicago","tag-clarendon-hills","tag-cook-county","tag-darien","tag-dupage-county","tag-elmhurst","tag-elmwood-park","tag-fitness","tag-franklin-park","tag-health","tag-hinsdale","tag-il","tag-illinois","tag-la-grange","tag-la-grange-park","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-oak-park","tag-river-forest","tag-sports","tag-things-to-do","tag-western-springs"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116351758366424844","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=706365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/706366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=706365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=706365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=706365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}