From Walk-On to Olympian: Emily Mackay on Reinvention, Resilience, and Running the Best Races of Her Life

From walk-on to Olympian, Emily Mackay has rewritten every expectation.Now, she’s back on the show to open up about the reinvention that’s powering the best chapter of her career.Emily ran collegiately at Binghamton University, where her best NCAA finish was 6th in the 1500m as a senior in 2022. She joined New Balance Boston that summer of 2022, while training under coach Mark Coogan. What followed was a rapid improvement as a professional, lowering her 1500m personal best from 4:08.97 to 3:59.99 in 2023. Emily was then one of America’s best female middle distance runners in 2024. In addition to her 1500m exploits, her 800m season’s best of 1:57.87 ranked sixth in the US that year. She also ran in the 1500m semifinals in the Paris Olympics. In 2025, Mackay finished 4th in the 3,000m at the US indoor championships in February, and took 10th at Tokyo in the 1500m semifinals with a 4:08.19. Emily signed with New Balance in 2022, and while she was formerly part of Team New Balance Boston, she has since left the team. Emily’s rise is proof that belief, resilience, and reinvention can take you anywhere. If her journey fired you up, share this conversation and follow along, because her story is only getting betterTap into the Emily Mackay Special.If you enjoy the podcast, please consider following us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and giving us a five-star review! I would also appreciate it if you share it with your friend who you think will benefit from it. Comment the word “PODCAST” below and I’ll DM you a link to listen. If this episode blesses you, please share it with a friend!S H O W  N O T E S-The Run Down By The Running Effect (our new newsletter!): https://tinyurl.com/mr36s9rs-Our Website: https://therunningeffect.run -THE PODCAST ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClLcLIDAqmJBTHeyWJx_wFQ-My Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/therunningeffect/?hl=en⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠-Take our podcast survey: https://tinyurl.com/3ua62ffz