Patient Stories
MOR Patients Cross the Chicago Marathon Finish Line
Date posted: 10/23/2025
Last updated: 1/1/0001
Three remarkable Chicago area athletes completed the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Sunday, October 12, with finish times that pleased them. What makes their victories even sweeter is that all three were back on the 26.2 miles of road after overcoming serious orthopedic conditions. While they didn’t know it, Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush (MOR) sports medicine physician and Chicago Marathon volunteer Dr. Joshua Blomgren was in a medical tent to care for them if they needed it.
Frannie: 8 marathons, 4 injuries, and 4 stars
Frannie Cramton, 61, of Bolingbrook, discovered running just eight years ago and has racked up one marathon per year, plus many shorter training races in between. She has been treated for four different injuries during her relatively short running career.
The first occurred during the 2019 Chicago Marathon, at around mile 15, when Frannie experienced a sudden, sharp pain in her left lower leg but pushed through, stopping at every medical tent until the finish line. At each stop, the medical personnel did what they could, including taping an ice bag to her leg, and many encouraged her to quit.
Post-race, at the finish line medical tent, an X-ray showed she had sustained what is known as a ‘floating fibula fracture,’ a rare traumatic condition in which two bones near the ankle break, typically caused by high-impact pressure. She was referred to (now-retired) sports medicine surgeon Dr. Bernard Bach at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush, who performed repair surgery and assured her that she would be back to running in due course.
Once recovered and back to running, Frannie experienced pain from a herniated disc between her 4th and 5th lumbar vertebrae. Running felt impossible. Back at MOR, she visited pain management physician Dr. Madhu Singh, who performed a spinal injection that successfully eliminated her pain.
Her injuries didn’t stop there. When hip and knee pain started to slow her down, she was treated non-surgically by MOR sports medicine surgeons Drs. Jorge Chahla and Adam Yanke, respectively. She was diagnosed with a torn labrum in her hip and a condition called ‘inflamed knee fat pad’, which occurs when the tissue below the kneecap becomes inflamed and pinched. Both injuries are usually caused by overuse.
“With the injuries I’ve had, some people think I’ve lost my mind,” Frannie says. “But I’ve grown to live and die by the four stars in the City of Chicago logo, which are also in the Chicago Marathon logo. It really motivates me to earn that symbol.”
The four stars in the Chicago flag signify historical events in the city's history: Fort Dearborn, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, and the Century of Progress Exposition of 1933. Each point in the six-pointed stars reflects different aspects of Chicago, such as the virtues of its citizens or entities that have governed the land.
“The MOR doctors and their staff are truly my team,” Frannie explains. “I wouldn’t have successfully run again after 2019 without their care and encouragement. They really understood me.”
On October 12, she finished the race in 5 hours and ten minutes, her fourth fastest time.
Jonathon: 3:18 finish time after ankle fracture
Another marathoner, Jonathon Roberts, 36, of suburban Arlington Heights, has been a competitive runner since he was a member of the Illinois State University cross country and track teams. He has run seven Chicago marathons and was looking forward to running the 2025 race. With a personal best marathon time of two hours and 46 minutes, he had a goal to shave off at least seven minutes.
However, while beginning to train eight months in advance of the marathon, he slipped and fell on ice and knew instantly he had broken his left ankle. After visiting Dr. Edward Hur, an MOR foot and ankle surgeon, an X-ray showed he had sustained a trimalleolar fracture, which is a serious injury involving the break of three parts of the ankle: the medial malleolus, the lateral malleolus, and the posterior malleolus. It is typically caused by high-energy trauma, like a fall.
After talking with Jonathon and fully appreciating his passion for running and his goal to heal in time to run the 2025 marathon, Dr. Hur recommended Jonathon undergo surgery for the best long-term results. Jonathon agreed, and the healing began.
For many months, Jonathon spent time in physical therapy and allowed his ankle to heal. He didn’t have much time to train once race time approached, but he decided to lace up his running shoes anyway.
“My ankle felt really nice before the race,” Jonathon explains. “My only complaint was that I felt out of shape because I hadn’t done much running and was definitely not as prepared as I usually am.”
With his wife and two kids cheering him on, Jonathon finished the race in three hours and 18 minutes.
“I can’t thank Dr. Hur enough for his wonderful manner with me and for making scheduling so easy,” he says. “He and his team were great communicators, and he took my running goals into consideration all the way.”
Rachel: Knee felt ‘wonderfully normal’
Rachel Goldman, 43, of Chicago and an experienced marathoner, completed her 21st marathon in Chicago in 2025, and she says her knee felt ‘wonderfully normal.’ Over her running career, she has completed marathons in Chicago, New York, Berlin, Champaign, IL, and Harrisburg, PA. A very superstitious competitor, the night before every marathon she eats pizza and on race day she wears the same shoes, shirt, and shorts.
Her personal best is an impressive three hours and 55 minutes.
Rachel’s injury setback occurred in 2018 after tearing her right IT (iliotibial) band, a fibrous band of tissue that runs down the outside of the thigh from the hip to just below the knee. The pain was most apparent in her right knee, and she was worried that her running days might be over.
Determined not to succumb to injury, she continued running, which she now realizes only made the injury worse. She became increasingly frustrated, and in 2019, she met with MOR sports medicine surgeon Dr. Adam Yanke, who understood her desire to continue long-distance running and he recommended repair surgery to achieve her best possible chance of getting back on the road.
“I was all on board for whatever it took to be able to run again,” she says.
With knee surgery and recovery behind her, she returns every now and then to see Dr. Yanke and his team for a check-up and occasional non-operative treatment.
At the 2025 Chicago Marathon, she finished in four hours and 13 minutes. “My knee felt the greatest it has in a long time,” she says. “I want to say a huge ‘thank you’ to Dr. Yanke for sticking with me,” she says.
Dr. Joshua Blomgren: 18 years caring for Chicago marathoners
In 2007, as a sports medicine medical resident, MOR’s Dr. Joshua Blomgren signed up for the first time to volunteer in one of the medical tents at the Chicago Marathon. Now, as a medical team captain and with 18 races behind him, he says race day is one of his favorites each year.
“I really enjoy the energy from both the runners and the incredible medical team,” he says. “We can have up to 20 people in each tent along the course, typically doctors, nurses, physician assistants, and medical students.”
While he has seen runners with serious conditions over the years, such as cardiac arrest and severe dehydration, he says the 2025 Chicago Marathon was a breeze.
“This year we really just saw people who needed a short rest, water, or some light massage,” he says. “The runners were thankful for us being there. It’s always nice to hear people express their gratitude.”
Thankfully, in his medical tent at mile 19, Dr. Blomgren didn’t have to disqualify anyone from running, meaning that no one was deemed medically unfit to continue the race.
“In fact, we had a lot of free time, so in between runners in the tent, the team and I cheered everyone on and passed out water bottles.”
And this year, Dr. Blomgren was able to enjoy the race with his wife and two of his kids.
