Family on fast track
SFU runner soaking up knowledge from ex-Olympian coach, who also happens to be her mom
Addy and her older sister Dana don’t have an issue with Brit Townsend coaching SFU’s track and field team. They just don’t call her mom
Addy Townsend’s feet are moving faster than ever. Her mind, in some ways, has slowed down.
The 19-year-old Townsend, an SFU sophomore middle-distance runner from Coquitlam, already has provisional qualifying times in both the 800 metres and 1,500 metres for the NCAA Division 2 national championships heading into this weekend’s Great Northwest Athletic Conference finals in Monmouth, Ore.
Townsend, who clocked a personal best last weekend with a two minute 7.99 second run in the 800 metres at the Oxy Invitational in Los Angeles, doesn’t officially have her invite to the May 25-27 nationals in Bradenton, Fla., but it’s safe to assume it’s in a queue somewhere, waiting to be sent.
She’s part of a surging SFU team coached by Brit Townsend, who competed in the 1,500 at the 1984 Olympics.
Addy is Brit’s daughter. The same goes for Addy’s older sister Dana, an SFU senior who specializes in the 5,000 metres and steeplechase.
It can make for unique situations, as you might expect.
“Last year, she was mom at the track and that led to some strange looks from other people. This year, we call her Brit when we are there,” Addy explained. “The thing is, now at home she’s also Brit with us, so she might regret the decision.”
Addy admitted that what her mother says at the track in the coaching capacity is resonating with her more and more. And that’s in part because she’s seen it work with the likes of Jessica Smith, 27, the former SFU 800-metre specialist who represented Canada at the London 2012 Olympics and at the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games.
“Is it weird being coached by my mom? You know, that’s a question I get a lot and if it was a year ago, I would have probably told you that, yeah, it’s completely weird and I don’t know if I like it,” said Addy. “As I mature and grow and having all the other athletes around and seeing how they’re doing with her, I realize that whatever she’s doing is the right thing.
“Sometimes I’m a little difficult. That’s going to happen in these scenarios. I think I have gotten better. Hopefully she says the same thing about me, too.”
Brit added: “She’s seen what my coaching has done for other high-level athletes and she wants that level. She’s striving to be the best she can be.”
Smith still trains under Brit. So do former SFU stars like Lindsey Butterworth, 25, who at last count had run the fastest 800 metres of any Canadian woman this season with her 2:04.02 effort earlier this month at a meet in Palo Alto, Calif.
That means they work out regularly with the current SFU team.
“Ever since I was little, I would go to every cross-country meet, every indoor meet, every outdoor meet and I’d have SFU gear on and I’d be cheering on everybody,” said Addy, whose mom has coached at SFU since 1998.
“Now I’m training with some of the same people on a regular basis, trying to do what they’re doing.
“It’s amazing to train with so many high-level athletes. They do the little things every day. They’re all so dedicated.”
SFU has 15 athletes who have provisional qualifying times for nationals. Addy is among those who have standards in multiple events.
She didn’t make outdoor nationals last season. She did participate in indoor nationals this season in Birmingham, Ala., highlighted by finishing fourth in the 800 metres thanks to a time of 2:08.38. She made it to the 2016 indoor nationals in Pittsburg, Kan., and wound up 14th overall in the 800 metres with a time of 2:14.94.