Addy Townsend: Run Your Way

800-meter runner Addy Townsend may have had an Olympian (middle distance runner Brit Townsend of Burnaby, B.C.) for a mom, but growing up, she didn’t think she would be a runner. Now, she’s prepping for the next Olympic Games on the track… with her mom as her coach. How did it happen, and how did she find the path to running her way, and not in her mom’s shadow? 

As she explains it, “I played all sports growing up: basketball, soccer, volleyball–I did everything. I started to play soccer at a super high level, and I thought that was going to be my sport. I played all the way until Grade 12. But I finally had the thought: I think I can do better in running. And I started to find that what I loved about soccer was the fitness of it. Every time it came to running, I found that part super fun, and everyone else dreaded it. I think my mom had a secret plan all along: she’d keep me in soccer, just to keep the running going. And then by the time Grade 12 came, I decided after provincials that I was going to go to SFU to pursue running.” 

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While she jokes about her mom having a master plan to make her a running pro, Townsend is quick to say that her mom has never pressured her to (literally) follow in her footsteps. “People always say that, ‘Oh, she must have been getting you out running all the time when you were young.’ It wasn’t really like that. I enjoyed running, and I would do it when I wanted to. But I didn’t feel the pressure, because she knew if I really wanted to get into it, I’d find my own way there. She was always super supportive of whatever I chose, whether it was a different sport or no sports at all.”

Now, the two are able to work together—and it’s working out great. “At first, I thought it was going to be so hard,” Townsend admits. “There were times where I was stubborn, and we’d argue a bit. But I think as I’ve gotten older and I’ve seen how much I’ve improved, it’s just been so helpful for me.”

At family dinners, Townsend says her dad and sister often have to tell her and her mom to leave the track on the track. “We’ve set some boundaries, and I think it works well,” she jokes.

Brit Townsend on building success at Simon Fraser University

Townsend doesn’t just train with her mom; there’s a whole team she trains with at the track, and she’s certain that’s made her a better athlete. “Track is a hard sport,” she says. “And it’s also an individual sport. I try to make it a little less individual by being around a lot of people who like to have fun. The runners at SFU are a great group of people who all love the track.”

“To me, Run Your Way means focusing on your potential, focusing on your goals and focusing on yourself,” Townsend says. “I think with track being an individual sport, you really have to have those goals in your mind and try and just really focus on them. It’s so easy to get distracted and to compare yourself to different people, but if I can focus on my training and my support system, my goals and my day-to-day actions, then I can run my way.”