cover story
THE RACE OF HER LIFE
Elite marathon runner Lanni Marchant is kind, compassionate—and tough. An advocate for women's rights in sport, she won't back down from a challenge. BY DAVID HOLT
“My sisters were talented skaters and I felt like an awkward misfit,” says Marchant. “I was brunette, not blonde like the others. I liked the artistic part, but I was most competitive off the ice.” She was always small, but energetic and determined. “Lanni preferred the running and weight training,” recalls her mother. “She would run with the guys and get out in front of them. I think that ignited her love of distance running. She found her element—a sport she could call her own. She was always very strong and independent, with a mind of her own.” Today, Lanni Marchant is a world-class distance runner. She is an Olympian who holds the Canadian record 22 OPTIMYZ.COM
in the marathon, a sport that attracts only the toughest, most competitive personalities. At 33, Marchant juggles several demanding careers. Still competing, she is back home after studying in the United States, practicing law remotely with a US firm. In 2017, she signed with Under Armour. “I’m excited to be with them,” she says. “They are relatively new in the running world and want to help grow the sport. They promote strong women as ambassadors and role models.” Still, it hasn’t been an easy ride. Marchant battled injuries and other health issues on her path to becoming an elite athlete. Not to mention the discipline it took to maintain athletic scholarships and earn multiple degrees. In the public arena, she has called out Athletics Canada on policies she thinks favour certain sports and discriminate against women. Despite her sometimes flamboyant style, she says she is fundamentally an introvert who had to push
herself to become comfortable in the public eye. Marchant has always been in motion. Growing up, she says, a lot of her schooling took place in the back of a car as her mother drove the kids to skating practice in another town. She switched to running in high school and still relies on her original coach, Dave Mills of London Western Track Club. A middle distance runner, Mills is married to Catherine Bond-Mills, a two-time Olympian in the heptathlon. “My first impression of Lanni was that she had a strong work ethic,” says Mills. “Others finished ahead of her at first, but she stuck with it and worked hard. She was raised by a single mother and there was not much money around. She always had the desire to excel. She sets goals and then figures out what to do to attain them.” In high school, Marchant decided she wanted to be a lawyer, setting her sights on an athletic scholarship to an American university. “Running was a
LANNI BY DAVE LAUS, BLUE: © CAN STOCK PHOTO / ILOVEOTTO
Growing up in London, ON, Lanni Marchant was part of an athletic family. The seven siblings, five girls and two boys, were always on the go. Getting exercise, playing sports was part of life. As a girl, her figure skating coach was her mother, Mary Lou Marchant, a gifted skater and athlete herself.
LANNI'S FIRST EVENT WEARING THE UNDERARMOUR UNIFORM: THE EASTSIDE 10K VANCOUVER SEPTEMBER 2017.
'OTHERS FINISHED AHEAD OF HER AT FIRST, BUT SHE STUCK WITH IT AND WORKED HARD.'
CONQUER COURAGE
–COACH DAVE MILLS
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