ONCE AN "UNDERDEVELOPED ATHLETE," MACKAY TO CLOSE BREAKTHROUGH SEASON ON FIFTH AVENUE ON SUNDAY
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2024 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - Used with permission.

NEW YORK (07-Sep) -- Emily Mackay, who considered herself an "underdeveloped athlete" when she finished her collegiate running career at Binghamton University in Upstate New York two summers ago, took a massive leap forward this year winning a World Athletics Indoor Championships bronze medal at 1500m, lowering her 1500m personal best to 3:55.90 (third fastest ever by an American), and becoming an Olympic semi-finalist after taking second at the USA Olympic Trials.  The 26 year-old from Endicott, N.Y., who will run the New Balance Fifth Avenue Mile here tomorrow, can hardly believe it.

"I had no idea what to expect, and it surpassed my expectations in every way," Mackay told an audience of runners gathered today at New York Road Runners' RunCenter on Manhattan's West Side.  "It was really, really special to have that dream come true.  Every professional runner's dream is to become an Olympian."

Mackay, who pronounces her name "muh-KYE," credits both her college coach at Binghamton University, Annette Acuff, and her pro-level coach at New Balance Boston, Mark Coogan, for recognizing her talent and drive to succeed.

"I feel very proud of the school that I come from, Binghamton University, part of the America East Conference," Mackay told Race Results Weekly in an interview.  "It's a smaller D-I school.  It's not as well known for the running program."

But it was the right school for Mackay.  As a sophomore (after transferring from Oregon State), Mackay ran only modest times of 2:11.55 and 4:27.45 for 800m and 1500m, respectively.  But under Acuff's coaching and despite the pandemic disruption of 2020, she got her times down to 2:08.53 and 4:17.37 as a junior, and improved further to 2:03.49 and 4:11.10 as a senior.  She began to see a long trajectory upward despite not competing for a big-name program.  

"Annette Acuff is an amazing coach," said Mackay.  "Just to show that the America East Conference can produce Olympic athletes, I think that's really special.  I'm very proud of coming from a smaller conference and a smaller school, just showing what we're made of."

After college Mackay joined the New Balance Boston training group, which included Olympians Elle St. Pierre and Heather MacLean, and finished a promising seventh at the 2022 USATF Championships in the 1500m.  Under Coogan's coaching, and with the support of state-of-the-art training facilities provided by New Balance, quickly Mackay went all-in.

"We just have so many amazing resources that help us compete at this level," Mackay explained.  "Mark's obviously an amazing coach.  He's got a great résumé.  He's definitely known for developing underdeveloped athletes.  That's one of the reasons I chose the program."

But despite all of the technical tools that New Balance makes available, Mackay said that Coogan's hands-on, stick-to-basics style of coaching works for her, including regular stints at altitude and 80-mile weeks.  His program first left her exhausted, but her body slowly adapted.

"He's definitely more old school in his training," she said of the 58 year-old Coogan, who was a 1996 Olympian and competed at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships seven times.  "He's not super-big on lactate testing and VO2 max testing or anything like that."  She added: "I think he saw an underdeveloped athlete and someone who had a lot of room to grow.  I think that he might have seen the fire in my eyes, that he knew how motivated and determined I was.  He knew how much I believed in myself."

With her successful track season behind her, Mackay hopes that tomorrow's race on Fifth Avenue will provide a satisfying end to her season.  In her first Fifth Avenue appearance last year, Mackay finished a disappointing 16th in 4:31.8.  She hopes to improve on that performance and was open about her race plan, which she admitted was pretty loose.

"I didn't have any specific tactics last year, and I'm not going to lie, don't again this year," she admitted.  "I'm literally going to run as fast as I can.  It's as simple as that.  I'm just going to send it from the gun."

- - - - -

The New Balance 5th Avenue Mile will be televised live on WABC-TV, Channel 7 in the New York tri state area from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. ET and available for streaming across the rest of the nation on ESPN+. Coverage includes features, interviews, and uninterrupted coverage of the professional heats with commentary from Olympians Carrie Tollefson and Alysia Montaño, ABC New York Sports Anchors Ryan Field and Sam Ryan, and Ali on the Run Show Host Ali Feller.


PHOTO: Emily Mackay and her coach Mark Coogan at the 2024 USA Olympic Track & Field Trials at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon in Eugene (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)

PHOTO: Emily Mackay (right) competing in her 1500m heat at the 2024 USA Olympic Track & Field Trials at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon in Eugene (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)