“My biggest goal right now is making the Olympic team for 2020. I feel like that’s a start. Sometimes I get a little scared thinking about bigger goals for years and years down the road. I like to do incremental ones. I think I would want to be known as a tough runner. I feel like I’m not super glamorous but a little more blue collar – just getting the work done and being tough. I like to be a badass.”

On Feb. 9th, Elle Purrier broke a 37-year-old American record when she won the Millrose Games mile in 4:16.85. Her time took seven-tenths off Mary Slaney's time and now ranks as the second-fastest indoor mile in history. Before her breakout indoor season, Dana and Elle sit down during a high-altitude training stint in Flagstaff, Arizona to dive into some of her upbringings on a dairy farm in northern Vermont and what led to her success at the University of New Hampshire and post-collegiately. She now has her sights set on making her first U.S. Olympic team in 2021.

In 2019, Purrier qualified for her first national team and competed in the 5,000 meters at the World Athletics Championships in Doha. She finished 11th with a personal best of 14:58.17. She is one of 16 American women who have broken 15 minutes on the track for 5,000 meters. Her personal best of 4:02:34 for the 1,500 meters also makes her a contender for that squad to Tokyo.

On this episode, we touch on:

- Growing up on a farm in Montgomery, Vermont

- Brief basketball aspirations

- Experiencing a runner’s high

- Her favorite parts of training and some of the craziest workouts that she’s done

- Advice for a high school runner pursuing running at a higher level

- Envisioning her legacy within the sport as a competitor

- The 5th Avenue Mile finish: “That’s a classic example of not overthinking something and just competing. That’s when I think I have my best races. That’s definitely a good lesson.”

- And more...

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Recommended read: Olympic hopefuls Gevvie Stone, Elle Purrier have very different paths ahead to Tokyo in 2021 (NBC Sports) | https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2020/03/25/tokyo-olympics-gevvie-stone-elle-purrier/

Photo for this episode's cover art by Kevin Morris | https://www.kevmofoto.com/