Market: Houston

Athlete: Claire McConnell (Wells Fargo Energy Group)

“Oh you ran collegiate track? How many marathons have you run?” 

If I had a dollar for every time I have been asked that, I would be a very wealthy woman. I was a multi-event athlete for the University of Oklahoma, which means I did a little bit of everything: sprints, hurdles, jumps and throws: 7 events in 2 days or 5 events in one day. It also means when I ran around the track twice I felt like I was dying. So if someone dies from running half a mile, what on earth would possess her to run 26.2 MILES?! 

The truth is that there are very few opportunities for former track athletes to compete after college. And I missed competing. So when John Maloy asked me to compete in The D10, I knew this event was made for me.

My career ended with what felt like a rug being pulled out from under my feet. In the heptathlon, you have to qualify by points and they take the highest 24 women to the NCAA Championships. I was #15 going into the last week of completion, with a big PR at my conference meet. I watched as people passed me that week. The day before announcing the qualifiers, I was sitting in the last spot #24. When the list came out the next day, I was #25 by 3 points (~.01 seconds). And just like that, my career was done. I no longer qualified to compete at Tracktown USA, which had always been on my bucket list. I was no longer an athlete. No one tells you as a senior how much you’re going to miss it, how you lose your sense of identity after stepping away from that grand stage, or how long that longing to compete at the same level plagues you. 

Joining The D10 was the first time I’ve felt that same passion since that sudden end to my collegiate career. The trainings for The D10 had me getting up at the crack of dawn again, tired before I even sat down at my desk and sometimes more sore then I had been in my college career (which is saying something). But I loved it! The camaraderie, the fitness and the sprinting were things I had dearly missed. 

The D10 let me do something I love for a great cause. Everyone has been affected by cancer in some way. I lost my grandfather during my freshman year in college right before track season. He had loved to watch me run and he would never get to see me compete in the Sooner uniform. He had been battling cancer for years and to watch a man who loved to cook and made the best ribs I’ve still ever had, get his jaw removed and have to eat out of a tube in his stomach, was heart breaking. 

 
I was honored to be asked to compete, thankful for the support I received and humbled by the cause. This was a great experience and I will definitely be competing next year.
Bring It,
Claire