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Boston Marathon weekend is already off to a record-breaking start. On Friday, April 15, the world record for the Indoor Distance Medley Relay (DMR) was set.
History was made at The TRACK, New Balance’s newly minted state of the art multi-sport facility in Boston. To mark its opening, New Balance hosted a full night of races on Friday, culminating with the DMR world record attempt.
The team assembled to accomplish the feat consisted of Team New Balance athletes Elle Purrier St. Pierre, Heather MacLean, and Kendall Ellis. Roisin Willis, the current U.S. High School Indoor 800m record holder, rounded out the four-person team.
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The quartet ultimately beat the former record by 6.06, finishing in a time of 10:33.85. MacLean, the 2022 U.S. 1500m champion, opened it up running 1200m in 3:14.92. Ellis, who was part of the USA 4 x 400 gold winning team in the Tokyo Olympics, followed with 400m in 52.04. Then Willis ran her 800m in 2:03.30. Purrier St. Pierre, a 3000m indoor world medalist, finished it up with 1600m in 4:23.55.
“I like honestly didn’t focus on the overall time. I was focused on what I needed to run for my individual split…I just try to control what I can control, and that was my split,” said MacLean in a post-race interview.
“It was just fun because it was like a team effort,” said Purrier St. Pierre.
Even following the race, the athletes didn’t realize the magnitude of their accomplishment. When informed in the same post-race interview that they set both the world indoor and outdoor records, MacLean replied with, “Oh, really!”
Leading up to the race, with such a strong roster, a world record seemed inevitable.
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However, just hours before the record-setting attempt, the team was forced to reassemble. Olympian and world record holder Sydney McLaughlin pulled out due to a minor hamstring issue.
With McLaughlin on the sidelines, Ellis was added to the line-up.
“[It was] so amazing that Kendall was able to step up. She did exactly what we needed and exactly what was supposed to be done,” MacLean said.
The multi-sport facility is off to a stellar opening with records like this already being set. The athletic center includes an indoor track, flexible basketball, soccer and volleyball courts, a sports research lab, a music venue, and a beer hall.
MacLean, who lives a block from The TRACK, also explained in the post-race interview that the race and track facility were special to her for more personal reasons.
MacLean said that her late father’s former union, Iron Workers Local 7, helped build the building. In fact, she recalled that one day when she was working out in the facility, she saw spray painted across the beams “Iron Workers Local 7.” In that moment she knew the facility was destined for great things.
“[I knew], alright, this is going to be really special to run in,” MacLean said.
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