Brandon McBride’s rookie season as a professional middle-distance runner, filled with big expectations, stress and success, quickly became a lesson in how to balance academics and athletics.
After graduating from Mississippi State University last year with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, McBride enrolled in a master’s program in public administration at his alma mater.
“I took on too much earlier in the season with my assistantship, internship and my graduate program. It took much more than I thought out of me,” McBride, 23, told CBC Sports recently.
A season of travel competing on the Diamond League circuit, racing at the Canadian track and field championships and debuting at the world championships left the Windsor, Ont., native mentally and emotionally exhausted and unable to compete for a Diamond League Trophy and $ 50,000 US in Brussels last Friday.
Brandon McBride uncertain about running in Diamond League Final1:40
With an eye toward the Commonwealth Games next April, McBride opted to call it a season after consulting with his coach Chris Scarrow and agent John Regis shortly after finishing fourth at a Diamond League meet in Birmingham, England on Aug. 20.
“I am the type of person that if I’m going to do something, I want to approach it with 100 per cent effort,” said McBride, an aspiring corporate lawyer.
“My heart wouldn’t have been in it [in Brussels] because of the accumulation of fatigue. Who am I to rob an opportunity for someone else?”
A month after stopping the clock in one minute 46.69 seconds in the 800 metres at the Golden Gala in Rome, McBride went 1:45.23 to win the men’s title at the Canadian championships in Ottawa on July 8.
He also led midway through the Aug. 8 world final in London, England before fading and finishing eighth in 1:47.09.
“I think people forget this was my first world championships,” said McBride, who placed 14th in his Olympic debut last summer in Rio de Janeiro. “It was different going to these meets as a collegiate. The expectations aren’t as high because you’re still considered young, in a sense.
Canada’s Brandon McBride finishes 8th in 800m at World Championships5:52
“As a professional, you have sponsors and depending on what the athlete and sponsor have agreed to, it can be very stressful.”
McBride ran a season-best 1:44.41 at Diamond League Monaco on July 21 to inch closer to Gary Reed’s Canadian mark of 1:43.68, an accomplishment that won’t top the 2014 NCAA champion’s priority list for 2018.
“What I focus on is bettering myself day by day and year by year,” said McBride, whose personal best of 1:43.95 was set at the London Muller Anniversary Games in July 2016. “The experience I gained from racing this year was huge.
“Even though I didn’t obtain a PB [personal best], if I continue to progress, anything is possible.”
