Background
Toomey, now Boyd, grew up in Connecticut, graduated from Tufts University with a degree in Biology, and was later based in Salem.
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Jen Toomey
Edit ProfileCareer
In high school, she had quit her track team hating the sport. In February 2004 she broke the United States indoor record for 1,000m in Birmingham, England. 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.
She finished second in the 1500m at the United States Olympic trials but was prevented from competing in the 2004 Athens Olympics by a knee injury and an adductor strain.
She subsequently relocated to Flagstaff, Arizona 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 fractures in both feet, and a torn meniscus.
She returned to Salem and her old coach Tom McDermott, and made a competitive comeback in 2008.
Achievements
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Almost ten years later, she took up running seriously in 1999 after training for the Boston Marathon and by 2001 had a third-place finish in the United States of America Outdoor Track & Field Championships. She won her first United States indoor titles in 2004, winning the 800m final in 2:00.02 and the 1500m final in 4:09.82. She won the 1500m again in 2005.
