Colleen Quigley - Stick With It
"It took me years to acclimate to the intensity of Jerry's workouts."
Known for starting fast braid Friday and being one of the original Bowerman Babes, Colleen Quigley is a rising star in track and field. Today she is changing the way runners are perceived by being an outspoken athlete across all media platforms, Quigley though would first build her reputation of being a strong runner. Over her many years in the sport, Colleen Quigley has had her fair share of ups and downs but she has showed that you do not need to be a star high school runner to become a world class runner.
During Quigley’s running tenure in high school she would emphasize the team aspect and her continued progress for the reasons she was able to pursue running to the next level. “I was just learning about running in high school and loved being part of a TEAM. I wouldn't have done it if it wasn't for the team and feeling like I was part of something bigger than myself.” Being able to have a strong team environment around her, Colleen Quigley was starting to see progression in her running. “I progressed gradually through those 4 years and it wasn't until my senior year that I won the MO state meet in the 1600 and 3200 and even then, I didn't compete well at nationals in track my senior year.” Even though she was upset about her result at nationals, Quigley saw great progression over her time in high school. Colleen Quigley would make the decision of which college she would attend for the following four to five years between to schools. “I visited a few schools and had it down to FSU or Villanova. In the end, the deciding factor was the connection I felt with the coach.” Having felt a stronger connection and bond with one coach during the recruitment period lead Quigley to choose one over the other. “The coach-athlete relationship is so important and I really believed in Coach Harvey's vision for me and for our team. She was clearly so passionate about her work and she made me excited for my potential too.” This vision that Coach Harvey had for Colleen Quigley would flourish rapidly has she would start to rise to the top of the NCAA.
After a disappointing showing at her first national championship in her senior year of high school, Quigley would find herself needing time to adjust to the next level. “It was hard to transition because the mileage was much higher and the workouts were so much more intense. I remember waking up in my dorm room bed and hobbling to the bathroom in the morning because I was so extremely sore.” Quigley continues though saying, “Yet I'd have to do it all over again the next day and somehow I did. Freshman year was one of the best years of my life- I loved the team, the coach, the school, I loved everything about my experience at Florida State.” Realising how much she loved running, Colleen Quigley would show how strong of a runner she actually was. “My freshman year I made the podium at NCAA in the steeplechase and my coach told me I would win NCAAs by my senior year. She had bigger goals for me than I ever dared of having for myself.” Even though she had just finished on the podium at the NCAA Championships, Quigley believes that she had a tough time believing in her coach’s bigger dreams. “One of the biggest challenges has been pushing myself to dream bigger and believe that I could do truly great things.” By the time Colleen Quigley finished her collegiate running career she had the opportunity to compete for some of the best professional groups in the United States.
After a successful career at Florida State University Quigley was given multiple opportunities to run at the professional level for the foreseeable future. One opportunity from the start impressed Colleen Quigley the most she says, “I looked at a few other opportunities with pro groups around the country, but the BTC was a clear winner for me because of the success of the athletes like Shalane Flanagan, Evan Jager, Emily Infeld, etc and I really believed in the coaching duo of Jerry Schumacher and Pascal Dobert.” Having such a strong resume of success, the Bowerman Track Club impressed Quigley enough that she would don the lightning bolts and red. One of the persuading factors for the steepler was that, “Jerry promised that he was trying to grow the women's group and that he would add more women in the years to come so that I would have more people to train with (now we have 11 women).” Having chosen a training group, Quigley would start to transition from college to professional running over the coming years.
With the transition beginning from college to post-collegiate running Quigley would face some hurdles over the next few years. “It was similar to the transition from high school to college in that I was trying to run more miles and the intensity of workouts was WAY up.” Having to deal with multiple changes, Quigley would start to realize that it would take a few years to acclimatize to professional running successfully. “It took me years to acclimate to the intensity of Jerry's workouts. The other big change was that in college you compete almost every other weekend. As a pro I'm lucky if I get to race 10 times throughout the whole year. So the weeks and weeks on end of training can be long and can really take a toll on the body.” Having to get used to the extra mileage Colleen Quigley would face adversity before seeing success. “I've gotten too many injuries to count since joining the BTC and have had to learn a ton about my body, what I need, where my limits are, and how to take care of myself and be my own advocate.” Quigley continues mentioning one of the changes from college to post-collegiate; “My college coach was much more hands on and helped me every step of the way whereas my coach now expects me to largely take care of my own business and show up for workouts ready to work.” Having gotten over this learning curve, Colleen Quigley was able to run herself to Global Championships. Through these experiences though at the highest of championship meets, Quigley tries to remember that it is just another race. “What I try to remind myself whenever I am in a big championship situation like Worlds or the Olympics is that despite the crowds and the cameras and the lights, it's really just another 3k steeplechase race and I know what to do in that situation. It's the same thing we always do- execute the race plan to the best of our ability and forget about the rest. I think I've gotten better at this over the years, but that comes with practice and confidence that you gain with experience.” This belief and idea that these massive meets were just another 3000-metre steeplechase race, Quigley blew passed her expectations that she began this journey with.
Colleen Quigley has progressed into one of the premier American distance runners over the last decade. Through two tough transitions of increased intensity, Quigley has proved that she is willing to hurt and sacrifice to reap the benefits that come later on. She shows that if a person can endure the short term pain it is worth the long term success.
Direct quotes via Colleen Quigley via email to Evan Smith. (June 2020)
Photos via Getty Images.
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