When you are one of seven kids, there are not many activities that are easy for all seven kids to participate. For the Schnurr family, running was the one that worked.
At the age of seven years old, McMaster’s cross-country coach Paula Schnurr found herself in a running club for the first time. Joining the Burlington Running Club, Schnurr soon found out that she was actually quite good at the sport. Fast forward to university, and Schnurr got a spot on McMaster’s cross-country team.
“There's something about running that makes you feel good physically, mentally and emotionally, especially being a part of a team,” said Schnurr. “When I was at McMaster as a varsity athlete, I made lifelong friendships from being part of the team.”
C/O Rick Zazulak
Aside from the forever friends that running gave her, being able to continually challenge herself and the nature of competing is what Schnurr really fell in love with. Her competitive edge led her to make the national team and represent Canada at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics for the 1500m, as well as two World Championships. Schnurr went on to win a silver medal representing Canada at the 1994 Commonwealth Games.
When her time as a runner came to an end, Schnurr turned to coaching. Starting her tenure with McMaster in 2009, her expertise has guided the Marauders to great success. Most recently, the men’s team found success in the 2018 cross-country season, coming in first at the Ontario University Athletics Championship, and third at the U Sports National Championship.
Her team’s triumphs led her to be named the OUA Men's Cross-Country Coach of the Year, making her the first woman to ever win the award, and McMaster’s second recipient of the award ever.
C/O Ian McAlpine
“I was very honoured because it is an award that the coaches vote on,” said Schnurr. “Winning that award is really a reflection of the kind of athletes that are on our team. Because, when your athletes are winning, it makes your coaching look good. So I’m honoured on how lucky we are and that we have a great group of student-athletes.”
The group of men and women she has the honour of coaching are a tight-knit group who often compare themselves to a family rather than a team. For Schnurr and her assistant coach Peter Self, who also happens to be her husband, they can not exactly pinpoint why the student-athletes who join their program all mesh so well together, but they are grateful for a team that enjoys being together on and off the track.
“I guess it's a bit of a reflection on the people that we are. We try to make good decisions on treating people well, and when athletes show up and work well, we're going to reward them by helping them be the best athlete they can be,” said Schnurr. “We feel good that athletes, whether they're winning championships or just making personal times, can walk away after their time here and reflect that they had a great experience while at Mac.”
Although some couples may find it difficult to work together, the two retired professional runners find balance in both their differences and their passion for running.
“I mean, we do disagree on certain things when issues come up, but we have a lot of respect for each other. Pete is very good at making suggestions on how we can change things for the better,” said Schnurr. “He pays attention to more of the details, and I'm more focused on the athletes and managing them. I'm the day-to-day person that they see and interact with, but he's the support.”
Winning such a high honour as Coach of the Year and coming in first provincially and third nationally, the thought of pressure would stay at the back of most people’s minds, but not for Schnurr.
“I don't feel a lot of pressure but I know the men put a lot of the pressure on themselves,” said Schnurr. “ Will there be a bit of pressure next year? Probably, because they are the OUA-defending Champions, but that's okay because the pressure is what makes athletes better.”
Instead of worrying too much about next year, Schnurr and the team’s next focus is the 2019 indoor track season. Unlike the outdoor track season, team goals begin to shift to individual goals. Whether it's running a certain time or making nationals, the men’s team again have top contenders for doing well this season.
“Our women’s team is still young and developing, but it's the men who are looking towards making nationals, as well as our relay teams,” said Schnurr.
Using invitationals like the Don Wright Team Challenge that took place at the Western University this past weekend, and competitions in Michigan and Boston to compete against some of the top American runners, the Marauders are doing whatever it takes to stay sharp. This way, by the end of February for the OUA Championship, and the second week of March for the U Sports National Championships, they will be ready to hit the podium once again.
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By Graham West
At their most recent cross-country meet, the Western Invitational, Josh McGillivray led the team to a second-overall finish, placing third individually. McGillivray, who led the field for McMaster for the first time in his career, said he treated this race differently than his past competitions, going in with a mindset to start at the front of the pack and staying there.
Top 10 Tuesday -- The Marauders men's cross country team strengthened its hold on the no. 2 spot, while @MacRugby fell to 10 in the @USPORTSca rankings. #GoMacGohttps://t.co/qwikz6mgIy
— McMaster Marauders (@McMasterSports) October 2, 2018
Clearly it worked as he had a career day, enough to get him named Pita Pit Athlete of the Week. He finished the 8 km course in an astonishing 24:20, and McGillivray thinks he will keep this week’s new strategy going forward to see if it will continue to work, but he will not change everything in his race-day preparations.
Cross-country is more of a mental sport than most people would realize, far more than most would consider it to be at first glance. There are so many people you are directly competing with that it can certainly take a toll mentally on a runner, constantly checking what place you are in, al the while to continuing to push yourself.
McGillivray highlighted the fact that with lengthy races, you are constantly pushing yourself to keep running as hard as you can, and this is where a lot of strength and grit comes in. The third-year runner also noted that preparation for cross-country meets is always very thorough. He said that making sure to get a good sleep, not only the night before but two nights before, can be instrumental to his success in addition to eating properly.
Even though you run individually, McGillivray emphasized that cross-country really is a team sport. Although you run by yourself during the races the sense of community really prevails, and that traditional sense of team chemistry is still very present.
For example, several Mac runners who were not even participating in the track meet because they had already run in a previous race came to cheer on their teammates who were competing. McGillivray said this is one of the tightest groups of guys he can remember, which allows them to be their best selves athletically as they continue to push each other.
“I’m surrounded by an incredible group of guys every single day and we kind of suffer through together,” said McGillivray. “We work hard, we all do the workouts. I think it was me on that given day that was leading the team, but I think our team is strong enough and deep enough that on any given day, anyone of us could be at the head of the group”
McGillivray highlighted the importance of staying cool and not overworking oneself, something he credits his coach, Paula Schnurr, for being very good at. He also stressed the importance that even though it can be really easy to go too hard, cross-country nationals is still a month and a half a way so it’s important for the athletes to pace themselves throughout the season.
“I think that the depth of this team, although we have had really deep teams the past few years, we’ve come fourth consecutively in the past five years now at nationals, but this year and the depth of this team is pretty insane,” McGillivray explained.
McGillivray believes that this could be the year the team breaks recent tradition and places on the podium at nationals.
“On any given day, because you have your top five scorers and then your top seven are considered your team because you have two alternates, I don’t think we'll have the same top seven in a consecutive race all season,” McGillivray said.
While there is still a long time before the team transitions to the indoor track season, the start to this year looks promising. With a roster that looks better than ever, a very clear drive and determination to succeed, the men’s cross-country team has nationals in sight and look poised to buck the trend of placing fourth for the past five years.
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