When the pandemic ruined long-time swimmer Gabrielle White ’24’s swim season, she was devastated. But, decided to pick up another cardio sport — running. More specifically, she started competing in cross country and track & field. Little did she know that in less than two years she would go on to break Choate’s 5k course record. On October 9, in a race against Taft and Trinity-Pawling, she ran a time of 18:54, smashing the previous record of 19:33 by 39 seconds.
White’s introduction to running was rocky, as she did not know how best to train. “My best friend coached me all summer, and I got so much faster. Once I started really doing a lot of distance, I started to plateau and didn’t know how to train anymore,” she said. Her freshman year, White worked with a coach who helped her improve her times. Unfortunately, during the indoor track season, White was injured, sidelining her for a few weeks. Nevertheless, White would go on to qualify and place sixth at the USATF National Junior Olympic Championships in the 4000-meter race.
Choate’s 5k course is renowned among all who have run on it for its challenging elevation changes and sharp hills — the most infamous of which is “Mt. Doom,” the steepest part of the course. White’s consistent training on the course, and her experience racing it, made her confident that she would perform well. White says the hardest part of running a race is keeping mentally strong. “Your legs will do their work but training your mind to love the feeling of lactic acid building up in your legs and not being able to breathe is how to run a really good race,” she said. With the whole season ahead of her, White approached this race as an opportunity to gain experience and get into the racing mentality — she was not going for the record whatsoever. It was not until there was such a large gap between her and the person behind her that she realized she might be on pace to break her own personal record, let alone that of the course.
Only a sophomore, White still has two more years of Choate Cross Country ahead of her, and she hopes this race will mark the beginning of a long running career at Choate and beyond. “It was inspiring to know I had the capability to go fast on my own without anyone there to help push me.”
