New York to Appeal $450K Award to Inmate Marathoner

State officials say they will appeal a ruling awarding $450,000 to an ex-drug dealer who says his hope of becoming a competitive runner was ruined by a prison doctor who botched a leg injection while he was serving time.

Ken Kroemer, of Rochester, claimed he suffered a tear in his Achilles tendon in 2001 as a result of the doctor giving him an injection in the wrong spot.

A judge ruled in Kroemer’s favor in March.

Kroemer’s dreams of becoming an elite runner were initially upended by a drug conviction in 1988.

He continued to run in prison, though, including a 1991 marathon organized by corrections officials that he completed in 2 hours, 33 minutes.