Travelling over 7,000 kilometers is quite the distance, no matter what you’re travelling for. But that is what faced Daniel Kelloway in his decision to come to SFU. The native of Mount Pearl, Newfoundland, since coming to the west coast, has become one of the most dominant runners in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC).
“Brit [Townsend] just kind of contacted me after a meet,” said Kelloway on the first steps to coming to SFU. “I did a year and a half at Memorial and the first summer after my freshman year, track was just going really well for me that season [. . .] She offered it up to me and said, ‘If you want to come out, [you can].’ I kind of just jumped on the opportunity.”
Initially, there was a bit
of hesitation.
“Coming out of high school, I only applied to Memorial University. I was very set on staying at home; I didn’t want to leave. It was kind of a very spontaneous decision. I was a little hesitant.
I don’t have any family out here. I didn’t know anyone at all.”
He credits the seniors at the time for showing him the ropes and helping him get comfortable.
“By the time I moved out, [residence] was actually full so [I] ended up moving in with some guys with the team. That actually ended up being super useful; they kind of helped me out quite a bit.
So how does it feel now that he’s one of the elder statesmen on the team?
“It’s pretty cool. It seemed like everything went by so quickly,” he explained. “I feel like I haven’t been out here that long. It’s kind of cool because the seniors back then gave me a lot of advice and I’d like to think that I am helping out the freshman the same way they helped me.”
Since this early adjustment period, Kelloway has become one of SFU’s most consistent and dominant runners. In his second season with the team, he was able to win the 2015 GNAC 400-metre title.
“I was more happy with the time than the title,” he elaborated. “It was a personal best for me at the time, and my first personal best since coming to SFU. I was really happy with that. Everything just seemed to come together that day. I was pretty pumped. I know all the coaches were pumped.”
After that, Kelloway repeated in 2016. And now, even though it’s not for a few months, Kelloway has his eyes for a three-peat in the 400-metre.
“You kind of have to taper your training a bit so that you peak at the right times,” said Kelloway on how he plans to prepare throughout the season. “So it’s just [about] picking the right races to run at the right times, so that you try not to burn out. And your training is kind of adjusted accordingly as well.
Kind of just higher intensity, less volume as you approach these bigger meets.”
“Everything just seemed to come together that day. I was pretty pumped.”
However, until then, there is still a lot of work to do, and a lot of meets to prepare for and compete in. Kelloway was able to train back home over the winter break indoors, but he and his teammates had to resort in some unorthodox training methods — namely running in the AQ.
“It’s kind of weird,” said Kelloway on the new training methods. “There’s not very many people there because it’s a Saturday morning, wbut people will be looking at you like ‘what are you guys doing.’ [But] it is the best we can do, and we’ve been making it work.”
So far, it’s seems to be working. In the team’s first meet of the 2017 season, Kelloway finished second in the 400-metre with a time of 48.46. Not only was it a personal best, it was the best time out of anyone from the GNAC at the meet.
In his last semester, and pursuing a degree in earth sciences, Kelloway at the moment is not sure what his future holds,
but has narrowed it down to
two options.
“I’ve been kind of debating recently whether to go back to grad school or take a year off and work a bit. So I have to decide that soon because it’s currently my last semester. Right now it’s one of the two.”
However this season ends, it will be the end of a spectacular and memorable time at SFU.
Fun Fact: Favourite place you’ve traveled with SFU?
“I really enjoyed San Francisco. It thought it was a really cool city; we got to sight see a little bit when we were down there.”
