Editor's note: Today is International Women's Day. In the week leading up to it, SaltWire Network has beensharing stories, all written by women, focusing on this year’s theme: "A challenged world is an alert world, and from challenge comes change." Each day, we will tackle a different subject area as we celebrate women's achievements, raise awareness, and encourage our readers to take action towards equality.
Jillian Forsey remembers being 10 or 11 and slowing down her mom and aunt as she ran with them.
By the time she was 13, she was competing in her first running competition at the North American Indigenous Games in British Columbia.
“That was a really big eye-opener for me just in terms of what opportunities there were in running and what some of my capabilities were,” said the 25-year-old who is originally from Kippens, just outside of Stephenville on Newfoundland’s west coast.
“After that, I think I started year by year just taking it a bit more seriously.”
International Women's Day 2021: Building an equal future in Atlantic Canada
By high school, she was training year-round and had advanced in the sport despite some challenges.
“I always felt like the underdog because I knew when I went to a race at national championships I was racing against girls who lived in cities where obviously they had big teams to train with… you know, a lot of resources that we don’t have in small towns.
“But I also think on the flip side, I had such an advantage because coming from a small town, you get such a sense of community support that you never get in a city. Every time I went to a big competition, I knew that I had so many people that were supporting me and I think that really helped.”
After graduating from Stephenville High, an 18-year-old Forsey headed to the U.S. and West Virginia University.
There, she completed bachelor and masters degrees in exercise physiology, all while competing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), at the Canadian cross-country championships and on national teams at international and world championships.
In competition, she found female racers faced different challenges than their male counterparts.
“Even in cross-country races, we often race a shorter distance. Which almost kind of perpetuates the idea that women can’t handle the longer distance that men do.
“But I think you kind of just have to block out that and focus on your love for the sport,” she said.
She would love to see more girls in the province get involved in running.
“Just having opportunities available and having girls realize what opportunities are out there would make a world of difference,” she said.
Growing up in Newfoundland, she said people don’t always realize that the opportunities are out there. Without the support of her family in helping her get to those big races, Forsey would never have known that she could eventually compete with the Canadian national team or in the NCAA, the highest collegiate sports level in the United States.
Her highlight reel includes winning the Canadian championship while in Level 3, finishing ninth at the 2014 world cross-country championships and earning all-American honours at West Virginia.
Forsey is no longer running competitively as she focuses on her studies as a first-year medical student at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine in Calgary. It’s a three-year accelerated program and her studies along with her role as the university’s local officer of indigenous health keep her busy.
She’s leaning towards pursuing a career in family medicine, possibly in Newfoundland and in a rural area.
“As somebody who grew up in a rural area, I think that I have a good understanding of what people who live there need. And it’s something I just feel that I could improve.”
Forsey says she can see where she might return to competition someday, but whatever happens, running will remain a big part of her life.
“Running is a really great sport in that it’s something that you can do lifelong regardless of if you’re competing or not,” she said. “Right now. running is like the one thing that I do for me every day during the business of medical school.
“I get that break from class and studying to go out for a run and it really helps me reset.”
Diane Crocker reports on west coast news. [email protected] | Twitter: @WS_DianeCrocker
