Elora runner’s future looks bright despite Commonwealth loss

ELORA – Runner Nicole McKenzie surprised herself when she landed a spot on the team representing Canada at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow earlier this summer.

She’s been a runner since she was 10, she said in a phone interview, and ran for the Guelph Gryphons while a student at the University of Guelph.

She was a sprinter and short distance runner until this spring, when she decided to try running longer distances.

And after just her third 800-metre race, she won the preliminary at the Nationals and placed third in the final.

That was enough to make the team and she was immediately swept into a whirlwind of trying on uniforms, booking flights and meeting the rest of the team.

“It’s been a dream of mine for such a long time,” she said from her home in Elora. 

“I showed signs (of being good enough to make the national team) but it never quite clinched.

“I felt pride, I felt grateful. I was just taking it in.”

McKenzie always thought of herself as a short-distance runner and had been training with Royal City Athletics and running those races for the Guelph Gryphons.

But she began thinking she might be a middle-distance runner and in the collegiate circuit there’s a 600-metre race.

“It’s kind of an odd event,” she said. “Usually you run the 400 or the 800. I thought (the 600) would be a nice segue.”

Much to her surprise, she ran her first 600-metre race at Michigan State and broke the school record. Her second 600 was at Penn State and she broke the Canadian record.

“That’s when the light bulb went off,” she said. “That’s when I realized what my new event would look like.”

She graduated in the spring and that knocked her out of the collegiate races.

If she wanted to run mid-distance races, she’d have to do the 800.

“I didn’t have time to build to the 800 but I decided to dip my toe in and get a feel for the event,” she said.

So she entered two 800-metre races and shaved a few seconds off her time each race.

“Seeing these times, I was thinking this is what I was meant to do. I felt I was just scratching the surface of what I’m capable of.”

With sprinting and the 400, you just give it your all the entire race.

Longer distances mean you have to pace yourself physically. And you have to beat the mental game, too.

“You can’t let negativity or self-doubt creep in,” she said.

Before the Commonwealth Games began, the team went to Stuttgart, Germany to train together. She worked with physiotherapists, developed a race plan and got to know her teammates.

Then they headed to Glasgow and round one preliminary heats took place on July 27.

“I didn’t feel too nervous,” McKenzie explained. “There was no pressure because there was no expectation really. I was just so thrilled to be running against the fastest women in the world.”

She came in fourth and therefore did not advance to the semis or the finals.

But she didn’t mind, she said. She had already accomplished more than she thought she could when she decided to change her race.

“To run with those ladies. To hear the crowd. It was a blast,” she said.

Her time was two minutes and five seconds.

England’s Georgia Hunter Bell won the gold medal in 1:59.51, so there’s a way to go for McKenzie.

But she now has her sights set on the 2028 Summer Olympics that take place in Los Angeles, California. That’s what she’ll be working towards over the next two years.

“It’s easy to get caught up in the numbers,” she said, already attempting to shake off the pressure that being part of Team Canada would bring.

“My goal is to keep showing up, to be consistent, and to keep it fun. I want to push my limits but be consistent.

“I have more drive now,” she added, reflecting on what she’s learned from her unexpected breakout year.

“I feel I’m on the cusp of something. I have the tools, now I have to learn to put them together. And I have more understanding of these international events.

“This has been a valuable season with a lot of learning. Right now I’m feeling very optimistic about my future.”