Toomey, now Boyd, grew up in Connecticut, graduated from Tufts University with a degree in Biology, and was later based in Salem.
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 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
[1] In February 2004 she broke the US indoor record for 1,000m in Birmingham, England, making her the 4th fastest woman all-time in this event.
[8] She subsequently relocated to Flagstaff, Arizona, where she worked with coach Jack Daniels.
[5] 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.