British middle-distance runner has made big changes in the hope of realising her potential
Sarah McDonald had given absolutely everything, but it wasn’t enough.
“The result on paper doesn’t show the story behind the journey and the agony of the last few months,” she wrote following the Müller British Championships in June last year. “It was not the performance I wanted, but I put myself out there … I couldn’t have done any more – we pushed every limit possible.
“So many people asked me ‘Are you sure about this?’, but I couldn’t pass up the possibility of potentially making the Olympics. It’s pretty hard to accept now, but it’s easier to live with the fact that I really did try rather than thinking ‘what if?’”
Driven by heartbreak and disappointment the two-time World Championship 1500m semi-finalist knew something had to change.
“I had to look at my options,” she admits. “I’d spoken to Dave [her manager, Dave Scott], and he’d spoken to Pete [Pete Riley, New Balance], and they both came up with the option of going to Boston and having a big, fresh start. That group had done so well in the summer, so it seemed like a no-brainer really.”
Now based in the US and filled with a renewed vigour, the 28-year-old is settling into life with Team New Balance Boston. Presented with another “what if?” moment, she was never going to pass up the opportunity to move across the pond.
“It’s been really good (so far),” says the University of Birmingham Medicine graduate. “The group is great and everyone has each other’s backs. It’s a nice environment and everyone wants the same things and are supportive of each other, rather than racing against each other.
“Training hasn’t been too different [compared to the UK]. There’s a lot of emphasis on keeping the easy days easy and we have two hard sessions a week. It’s just about getting the work done together, really. It’s been a good transition for me just to get back to running with people.
“Mark [New Balance Elite Coach Mark Coogan] has been great. He’s really laid back and pretty chilled about stuff. I’ve never felt pressure to do too much, which is good considering everything that’s happened.
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“He knows where I’ve come from injury-wise, and in terms of mileage he’s kind of given me a bit of a free rein to make sure that I feel comfortable, so each week I just increase by two or three miles per week to get back to where I was before. I’m pretty much nearly there now.”
Coogan spoke to AW in early 2021 and emphasised the power and potential of training groups. “Just giving these people an opportunity where they can support themselves a little bit and run to see what they can get out of themselves is great,” he said. “You end up really enjoying being around these people. They trust you and look out for each other, like a second family. I think, when you have that, you can run harder and faster.”
McDonald, who has a 1500m PB of 4:00.46, was left off the 2021-22 British Athletics Olympic World Class Performance Programme. She has used that decision as motivation to find the set-up that works best for her, rather than to dwell on what could have been.
Her true test, of course, will come from competitive performances rather than training experiences. The 2019 British champion is aiming to return to the scene of her last domestic triumph – and the home of her club, Birchfield – for the Commonwealth Games, as well as targeting a place in the final at this year’s much anticipated World Championships in Oregon.
“The major goal is to make the final in Eugene,” she says. “I need to improve on two semi-finals and show people that I’m back and that I do mean business again.”
Like her brave, but ultimately heart-breaking, attempt to make this summer’s Olympic Games, McDonald will undoubtedly give it everything she has.
“Be bold and courageous,” wrote American author H Jackson Brown. “When you look back on your life, you’ll regret the things you didn’t do more than the ones you did.”
Running with Team New Balance Boston, as Coogan says, presents an opportunity to maximise her potential. McDonald will never have to ask ‘what if?’.
» This article first appeared in the December 2021 issue of AW magazine, which you can buy here
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