McGill University runner cut from team after joggling in cross-country race

As Canadian university cross country kicked off last weekend in Montreal, a member of the McGill University men’s cross-country team ran the 6K race in a unique fashion. When Henry Wellenstein was not selected by his coach to race the McGill Open due to an apparent injury, he took matters into his own hands and joggled the race (i.e., he ran it while juggling three balls) on his own, while wearing his McGill team singlet. After the race, the coach cut him from the team.

“I looked at the race as an opportunity to do something fun,” says Wellenstein. “Since my result wouldn’t affect the team score, I thought I could get in a good workout and have some fun.”

Although he was not registered in the race and did not cross the finish line, according to his Strava, Wellenstein finished the 6K in 21 minutes, which would have put him in 76th place out of 133 runners.

Despite putting on a memorable performance for those in attendance, days later, Wellenstein says he was cut from the team based on his actions: “My coach and I had differing opinions about whether I should have joggled the race, and we were unable to resolve them,” he says.

Wellenstein started joggling in Grade 8, but didn’t train seriously for it until the beginning of the pandemic. “This was my first time joggling during a cross-country race,” he says.

The fourth-year cognitive science student, who is from Wisconsin, was optimistic when asked about his future joggling plans: “It looks like I’ll be able to add a fall joggling XC season to my race calendar.”