Mpls runner recovering after injury, hopes to continue marathon streak

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - No one knew what the future held for one Minneapolis runner after a violent car crash stole his ability to walk in 2007.

But this year, after making a remarkable recovery, Peter Baum is set to run in his 36th marathon.

Inspired to move

"It was just always waiting for that moment to get a chance to run again," Peter Baum told FOX 9 on Monday.

A weather-related single vehicle rollover left Baum hospitalized with a collapsed lung and shattered spine.

Surgeons placed rods on either side of his spine and fused a damaged vertebra.

"That was the end of surgery and kind of the start of where I started to first walk, and then eventually run, and race, and do everything that I love again," Baum said. 

A lifelong runner – through physical therapy, Baum had to relearn how to walk and run.

"The concern was obviously that I could be paralyzed," Baum said. "That was the thing I was scared of."

Back on track

These days Baum is back on track, running about 90 miles per week.

He’s determined to run a marathon in every state; and this year, on the anniversary of his crash, he’ll cross off state number 30.

"I’ve done 35 total and 29 states are done, so in three weeks I’ll go for my 30th state," Baum finished.