Plenty of children like to run around for seemingly no reason at all, fueled merely by the innate urge to move.

Leah Pells was no different in elementary school, spending her lunch breaks running laps around her schoolB次元官网网址檚 field for fun.

B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 know if I was just an odd kid or what,B次元官网网址� Pells said in an interview ahead of the 2023 Bell Canadian Track & Field Championships, taking place in Langley on July 27 to 30.

Steve Read taught Pells in grades six and seven, and it was him who took her running journey to its next step: joining the track club.

The club was small, made up of less than 10 kids with the same naturally occurring love of the sport.

B次元官网网址淚t was just his car and us kids, and then this old track,B次元官网网址� Pells said.

Their training grounds were nothing fancy. Pells described it as an old black track that bore a tough surface, nothing like the nice new one there now.

That was the Langley Track ClubB次元官网网址檚 place, though.

In 1976, Read went to the Olympics in Montreal. Upon his return and sharing stories of his experience, Pells made up her mind.

B次元官网网址淚 want to do that,B次元官网网址� she said to Read. To which he simply replied, B次元官网网址淥K.B次元官网网址�

That was the official starting line for Pells. It wouldnB次元官网网址檛 be an easy one however, and the track star said she experienced a number of failures before finally making it to the top.

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B次元官网网址淚 tried to make the team in 1988, finished dead last. I made the team in 1992 and ran the 3000m that they offered then but I didnB次元官网网址檛 make it out of the heat, I think I finished dead last,B次元官网网址� she said.

B次元官网网址淚 was kind of like wow, this is a bit harder than I thought, and do I have the capacity to continue?B次元官网网址�

As it would turn out, she did. Pells said that from a young age running taught her how to set a small goal, and achieve it. Once she made her first Olympic team, she said she knew that no matter the goal, every single one she set for herself, she was going to achieve it.

B次元官网网址淎t the 1996 Olympics, when everything really came together and went well, a moment that I really recall is after I finished. I jumped on the athlete bus all by myself and went back to the warm up track. We were the last event and there wasnB次元官网网址檛 a person there. It was just me. I had my moment where I was like, B次元官网网址極K, I did that,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� she said.

No matter the goal she reached however, she never forgot where she came from.

B次元官网网址淚 love Langley, I still feel like IB次元官网网址檓 from Langley. I still feel like a Langley girl,B次元官网网址� she said.

Bell Canadian Track & Field Championchips in Langley

The national meet, set to take place July 27 to 30 at McLeod Athletic Park in Langley, will bring CanadaB次元官网网址檚 fastes runners, highest jumpers and strongest throwers to the Lower Mainland, in what will be their last attempt to represent Canada in the world championships in Budapest.

Tickets are on sale nline. Adult passes are $30, youth passes are $15, and kids under seven can attend for free.

Pells says itB次元官网网址檚 not an event to be missed.

B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 think people really get what a big deal Canadian national track and field championships are until you go,B次元官网网址� she said.

B次元官网网址淵ou see the cream of the crop, these are the athletes that are going to be at world championships, at the Olympics next year. You get to go and be this close to the best of the best.B次元官网网址�

Pells continues to spread encouragement and shares her goal-setting mentality to anyone who shares an interest in running.

B次元官网网址淜ids are always like, B次元官网网址業 wanna do that,B次元官网网址� and IB次元官网网址檓 always like B次元官网网址榊ou know what? Someone has to go to the Olympics, why not you? Go!B次元官网网址�