4 years in the past, Paige Breedon of Barrie referred to as herself a pastime jogger; now, the College of Waterloo athlete boasts a nationwide cross-country silver medal and U Sports activities fourth-place end. She stunned herself–and plenty of others–with a breakout season on the Canadian cross-country scene, racing towards the nation’s prime athletes and firmly establishing herself as a rising star.
“The race appears like redemption,” Breedon informed Canadian Working after claiming second place on the ACXC nationwide championships in London, Ont., final Sunday. The 22-year-old clocked 36:45 over the 10K course, ending runner-up to esteemed Canadian marathoner Leslie Sexton. “At OUAs, I used to be in second with 500m to go, however my legs went lactic on the final hill. At present, I informed myself my legs aren’t going lactic on that hill,” she laughed.
When requested concerning the adjustments that contributed to her notable health features this 12 months, Breedon admitted she hasn’t modified a lot–except for her newfound ardour for yoga. “I dont know if I needs to be revealing my secrets and techniques,” she joked. “My kind isn’t nice, however I began doing sizzling yoga, and I feel it has actually helped my kind.”
The sport-changing season
The previous cross-country season marked Breedon’s second 12 months racing for the Waterloo Warriors, and the autumn months noticed nothing however spectacular performances from the optometry scholar. “Once I bought fourth on the first race, I used to be shocked,” she stated about her opening run at September’s Western Invitational, which she adopted with a second-place end on the Don Mills Invitational in Waterloo.
Breedon captured her first collegiate victory at October’s 8-Kay Marauder Invitational, successful by a commanding margin of 24 seconds. “Everybody went out fast, however no one appeared like they needed to maintain that,” she stated. “I simply needed to choose it up two kilometres in; I took the lead, and no one went with me.” The end result marked the primary cross-country win for a Warrior athlete since 2019.
Breedon revealed that her objectives for the rest of the season have been to medal on the convention and nationwide collegiate championships–however OUAs fell throughout a heavy week of miderms. “I went into OUAs figuring out I used to be drained and had stayed up later than I ought to’ve,” she stated, however she nonetheless clinched a Tenth-place end.
“U Sports activities went a bit higher,” she stated. Breedon narrowly missed the rostrum on the U Sports activities Championships in Kelowna, B.C., in early November, claiming fourth–a exceptional leap from her Twenty eighth-place end in 2023. “Possibly I ought to’ve gone with the leaders, however it might’ve been dangerous. Now that I’ve gotten that fourth place, my subsequent aim will probably be to go for it a bit extra.”
First steps as a runner
Breedon accomplished three years of her undergraduate diploma in medical sciences at Western College earlier than securing early acceptance to the College of Waterloo’s prestigious optometry program. The Mustangs cross-country crew, which Breedon joined in her third 12 months as a walk-on, was the primary aggressive working squad she educated with. “Making the Western crew as a pastime jogger was an enormous deal for me,” the athlete stated. “I began working persistently throughout COVID in 2020, however was simply doing straightforward runs. I in all probability progressed from 30-km to 50-km weeks over the span of two years.”
Earlier than college, Breedon’s experiences working and racing included finishing a half-marathon on her sixteenth birthday, and several other years on the Innisdale Secondary College cross-country crew, the place she ran about 10 kilometres per week. She additionally performed on the varsity’s hockey, rugby and flag soccer groups.
Subsequent objectives
Breedon is completely happy to take some downtime from racing earlier than shifting on the observe season, the place she’ll concentrate on the 1,500m, mile and three,000m occasions. She has her sights set on lastly breaking the 10-minute barrier within the 3,000m.
