Cherokee Challenge Info + Interview with Megan Lacy
Read Lisa's great interview with Team USA's Megan Lacy ('12)
Happy weekend, Chiefs! We hope everyone has been enjoying their summer, and gearing up for a nice fall.
This is a reminder that the 27th Annual Cherokee Challenge will be held on Saturday, September 9th. We encourage any Cross Country and Track & Field Alumni to attend, cheer on the athletes, mingle with fellow alumni, and maybe buy some gear! We will have an alumni tent set up for the second straight year, so keep an eye out for the 4xAlumni signs and T-shirts, and come say hello!
Here is the race schedule:
This month, we were lucky to hear from 2012 Cherokee graduate and distance phenom, Megan Lacy. Megan is one of the most successful athletes of any sport to graduate from Cherokee. She still holds the 3200/2 mile and 5k school records on the track, and is one of an elite group of female high school runners to break 18 minutes at the infamous Holmdel Park.
She has been quite busy both on and off the running trails ever since. She graduated from Stanford University in 2016 with a degree in product design engineering, ran her remaining seasons of eligibility for Boise State University, founded her own start-up company, and remains in Boise, ID where she continues to pursue her running goals. She has PRs of 33:07 in the 10k from 2021, a marathon Debut time of 2:39:08 from 2019 (an Olympic trials qualifier!), and has qualified for Team USA twice in mountain running! We will let her tell you the rest.
4xA: Remind us of some of your accolades from your time in college and after college.
ML: In college, my freshman year I was a scoring member of the Stanford team that came in 3rd at the 2012 NCAA Cross Country Nationals and came in 2nd in the 5K at the USATF Junior National Championship in 2013. I spent most of my collegiate career injured. Between injuries, I scored at conference three times (1 x Pac-12; 1 x Mountain West). Honest Summary: I ran my easy runs too fast, ate too little and got injured often.
After college, I qualified for the Olympic Trials in my debut marathon in 2019. I started training more seriously again in 2021 and ran my first track season in 4 years and PRed in the 10K by 107 seconds. Right after that, I made my first World Championship team by placing 4th at the USA Mountain Running National Championship. This year, I finished 5th at the Mountain National Championship and barely missed making the team again. 3 of the 4 people that beat me were former World Champions, so even though it didn't turn out the way I wanted, I was pretty proud of this result and my effort.
4xA: Congrats on your continued running success in recent years, on the track, roads, trails and mountains! Can you catch us up to speed on what’s coming up next for you running-wise?!
ML: Thanks! Up next, I am racing for Team USA at the NACAC Mountain Championship in Canada in September. I am honored to be representing Team USA for the second time and can't wait to compete after being sidelined with some injuries earlier this summer. After that, I'm not 100% sure yet. Next year, I am skipping the marathon Olympic Trials to either focus on the track Olympic Trials or a full trail racing season in Europe.
4xA: What do you do now for work?
ML: I am currently juggling a few different roles. I founded a tech startup that makes devices for first responders about 7 years ago called Lumineye. I have been CEO for the last few years, but will be stepping down at the end of the month to finally be a professional runner!! Being a professional athlete has been my dream since I was 8, so I'm kind of in shock that I am actually doing it. I am also the Director of Marketing/Owner at Fleet Feet Meridian and I am the Race Director of Boise Front Trail Run, a volunteer-led organization that puts on an annual trail race at the summit of the tallest mountain in Boise. We donate all the money the race makes back to the local trail system. I am also serving as the Secretary on the National USATF Mountain Ultra Trail (MUT) Board right now.
4xA: How has Boise been treating you? What do you have going on out there besides your own running aspirations and adventures?
ML: I absolutely love Boise. I have about 250 miles of trails less than a mile from my house, so it's a runner's paradise. I love camping and exploring the outdoors in Idaho. It has given me a much more full love for moving my body and running than I could have from competing alone. I also love the running community. Through my race and store, I'm pretty involved in getting the general community involved in racing and running and I love seeing the joy on people's face when they accomplish their goal.
4xA: What’s kept you motivated all these years to keep at it? Through injuries and other challenges, different schools and teams, jobs, etc.?
ML: I used to be motivated by winning and being the best. I actually fell out of love with running in college when I was injured all the time and I only came back to it seriously when I realized that I loved the actual act of running and training. After college, I accepted that I may not ever get faster, but chose to keep running because I loved it.
Once I let go of my fear that I would never be fast enough and accepted I may never get the results I dreamed of, I actually started running a lot faster. When the pressure feels like it's getting to me, I check in with myself, make sure I'm still loving what I'm doing and refocus my energy. It really is such a privilege to continue to get faster after nearly 22 years of competing seriously.
4xA: Who is your favorite pro runner and why?! Or maybe a pro athlete from a different sport?
ML: She is no longer competing, but I'm going to go with Lisa Uhl (nee Koll). For those that don't know, she's a 2012 Olympian and is the current 10,000m NCAA collegiate record holder. I had a coach when I was younger base my training off of hers and that impacted me enough that I decided to move to Boise solely to train with her collegiate coach, who is at Boise State now. Without that influence, I never would have ended up in Boise to begin with!
4xA: Favorite Cherokee high school memory, running or otherwise?
ML: One of my favorite memories on the team was winning our County champs for the first time in my career there. I remember we were all so surprised to upset Lenape. We decided to wear our hair in "crazy buns" and looked absolutely ridiculous smiling in the picture for the paper.
4xA: Advice for current Cherokee XC/TF athletes ??
ML: Do the little things to get better but enjoy the process along the way! Yes, it does take a lot of work to be the best you can be, but the most important key to long term success is that you have to be happy doing it. Running fast in high school does not mean you need to count calories or run each easy run as hard as you can. Staying healthy and getting in consistent training will help you get better on your own timeline and develop a lifelong relationship with the sport.
4xA: Anything else you’d like to add?
ML: Good luck to all of you competing this season!
4xA: Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions so candidly, Megan! And good luck to you in this next chapter! We hope to check in with some of our other XC and T&F Alumni in the near future, so keep an eye out!
As always, if you would like to donate to our 4xAlumni fund, which supports current student-athletes through funding travel expenses and entry fees to championship events, purchasing new equipment, scholarships for graduating seniors, and more, you can access our Venmo here: Cherokee XC/Track Alumni
Hope to see some of you next month as the 2023 Cross Country Season kicks off on our home turf!
Have questions? You can reply directly to this email!