Brit Townsend on building success at Simon Fraser University

When the former Canadian 800m record holder, Brit Townsend, hung up her track spikes 30 years ago, she knew that her athletic career was coming to an end, but didn’t want to distance herself from the sport she had grown to love. This 2022 indoor season has been one to remember for the Simon Fraser University track and field coach, who has had the opportunity to see several of her athletes achieve breakthrough performances, resulting in Canadian records, world standards and personal bests. 

During her final years of competing professionally, Townsend found a new love for coaching athletes. She began coaching young high-school athlete Heather DeGeest in the early-1990s, who at the time was a 2:06 800m runner. “My first athlete is who inspired me to keep coaching,” Townsend says. “DeGeest had this natural drive for success, and she just kept making Canadian national teams.” 

“Coaching DeGeest helped me realize I wanted to help athletes get to that next level and buy into my process,” Townsend says.

Fast forward 23 years and Townsend is living her dream job of coaching at her alma mater, Simon Fraser University. Her team and program are one of the best in Canada, coming off two Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) cross country titles, with Townsend being named both the GNAC men’s and women’s 2022 cross country coach of the year.

We sat down with Townsend to understand how she builds success in a collegiate environment. 

10 years ago, Cameron Proceviat, who broke the Canadian indoor mile record in Boston last weekend, running 3:52, came to Townsend as a two-minute 800m runner. “His hard work and dedication is a prime example of our goal is at SFU–long-term progression,” Townsend says. Tokyo 800m Olympian Lindsey Butterworth is another example of long-term progression under Townsend’s guidance.

“I have high expectations for every athlete who walks through the doors at SFU,” Townsend says. “As a coach, my job is to believe in each athlete and continue to provide them with the opportunity for success.” Simon Fraser has a recruiting advantage over other Canadian universities, as they are the only Canadian school to compete in the NCAA. Athletes who attend Simon Fraser have the opportunity to compete against American schools while getting a Canadian education. 

Many other university programs and training groups halted training because of race cancellations, but Townsend kept things the same. “A lot of our success this season is from sticking to our annual plan during the pandemic,” she says. “In 2020, when there was no XC season, our athletes were doing the same aerobic conditioning in the fall and the same annual plan in the winter and spring.” 

“We held time trials to keep the team motivated and driven to keep up the hard work,” Townsend says. “Almost all of our athletes managed to hit some sort of personal best during our time trial series.” 

Townsend has also had the opportunity to coach both of her daughters, Dana and Addy. “It’s been amazing to see their growth,” she says. The young women were both collegiate runners at SFU. “Addy played provincial soccer until she stopped a few years ago to focus on running competitively,” Townsend says. “I am proud of how ambitious and confident they are. I want to give my daughters a similar experience running gave me.”

“One thing I tell my athletes is that success doesn’t come overnight,” she says. ” If you want great times and performances, come it will come with long-term progression and buying into the high-performance environment. 

Good coaches trust their athletes, and good athletes trust their coaches.”