Six months ago, Brynn Peterson was training for the Philadelphia Marathon when she found out she had nearly 30 blood clots in her lungs and that one of them had partially died. On Sunday, Peterson, 24, will run the Broad Street Run with an elite bib, having endured an arduous medical journey.
"I'll just be the one smiling the entire time just because I'm able to run," said Peterson, a sixth-grade teacher at St. Helena-Incarnation Catholic School in Philadelphia.
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As a college student at La Salle University, Peterson swam and ran track and field and cross country. But her athletic pursuits did not end there.
While training for the marathon with Philadelphia Runner Track Club last year, Peterson started to have sharp pain near her ribs, a feeling that an "elephant was sitting on" her chest, and physical enervation.
Peterson's father played college football. Her mother was an elite runner. Her two siblings attend West Point. This is a family that pushes through physical and mental challenges – which is what Peterson was doing until teammates at Philadelphia Runner, who worked in the medical field, recommended she get checked out.
Oct. 27, Peterson drove herself to Temple Health's Chestnut Hill Hospital near her home in Glenside. An EKG and blood work showed that her heart was in severe distress. Scans showed blood clots filled her lungs in addition to one in her leg. Her doctors told her that if she hadn't sought out medical attention, she would have had a heart attack in the near future, Peterson said.
A genetic mutation makes Peterson predisposed to blood clots. Being on blood thinner for nearly six months has resolved all of the clots in her lungs. But the lung that had partially died due to restricted blood flow is still healing.
Peterson said her medical journey – that also included a severely sprained ankle that kept her out of commission until two months ago – has been teaching her "not to think like an athlete so much" and to think more about running for fun.
Brynn Peterson has been training with Philadelphia Runner Track Club after graduating from La Salle University, where she was both a swimmer and runner.
She said she struggled with leaving the environment of college sports. When she no longer had trainers monitoring her nutrition and physical condition, Peterson said, "it was like, 'Oh, I can just push, push, push until your body's like no you can't do that anymore."
"If I have a bad workout, I have to remind myself that five months ago I couldn't even walk," she said.
Her health issues also have reminded her that even though she is in her 20s, she is not indestructible.
"Things happen to you even when you're young, and I think that sometimes people don't talk about that," Peterson said.
She will be running Broad Street with about 75% lung capacity – and an elite bib. If all goes well, she's hoping to finish in 60 minutes – a pace of 6 minutes per mile.
"On Sunday, I'm not really focused on time," Peterson said. "I'm just happy to be out there racing again."