Two runners from Arizona cover the distance, from altitude training in Flagstaff to representing the USA in Tokyo

By Randall Perry Last updated Jul 19, 2021

PHOENIX – Two runners, used to scorching temperatures, secured their places in the Olympics during an Oregon heatwave.

Rachel Schneider, who qualified over 5,000 meters, and Emily Sisson, who qualified over 10,000 meters, both live and train in Arizona.

Schneider moved to Flagstaff full-time five years ago after falling in love with the city when she went there to train at high altitude. Flagstaff is a popular high altitude training destination for runners. To this end, Sisson travels long distances every year.

She moved after wintering in Phoenix for years to escape the Rhode Island cold. After finding the right chiropractor in Chandler, her husband suggested making Phoenix their home base since they were spending so much time in Arizona anyway.

“I think life and training and Phoenix probably prepared me a little better,” Sisson said of the heat during the Olympics. “I kind of knew what to expect, probably more than some other runners, as it was pretty hot all last year.”

Sisson dreamed of going to the Olympics since graduating from college. She was injured in 2016 and then ran poorly in the 2020 marathon team tryouts, so gave her another chance this year. After the heartbreak of not qualifying last year, Sisson said she was proud to represent the United States in 2021, especially given the depth the country has in athletics.

Schneider agreed.

“They’re sending a great team and there are great, great athletes leaving the team,” she said. “This is one of the most incredible things about the United States … we could probably fill our Olympic team three or four times with phenomenal top athletes.”

Schneider credits her, her “amazing team of physical therapists,” with what she calls the best months of training of her life because they kept their bodies healthy and allowed them to focus on the mental and physical strategies that she and her trainer Mike Smith is also her fiance, evolved.

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Concentrating on the mental strategy left Schneider satisfied and prepared for the race. She knew that whichever way things ended, she would be proud. When she crossed the finish line third and qualified for the Tokyo Games, her family was there to greet her.

“To do this winning lap and then hug my family, fiancé and some of my friends afterwards is a moment I will never forget,” said Schneider.

Schneider’s entire family, from her parents to her three siblings to her little nephew, traveled to Oregon for the Olympic exams because they knew they wouldn’t be going to Tokyo if she qualified.

Kathy, Rachel’s sister, jokes that she was Rachel’s first track coach. Being six years older meant Kathy Rachel trained on the local recreational program in her hometown of Maine. That support extends into her adult life as Kathy moves to Flagstaff this year to be close to Rachel.

They went from a 10 hour drive to a 15 minute drive apart. Kathy said Rachel kept saying that even 15 minutes was too long.

“My family has been my closest people, my greatest supporters, my greatest encouragers, all of my life,” Rachel said. “It was like the biggest, biggest silver lining in the pandemic … moving my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew to Flagstaff and spending so much time with them.”

Although she described postponing everything by a year, Schneider said another benefit of the pandemic-induced postponement was how she used the time to improve her mindset.

Schneider is attending the Graduate School of Online Clinical Counseling in Mental Health at Grand Canyon University because of her passion for psychology and her desire to help others live more connected and joyful lives. Regarding her athletic activities, Schneider said that focusing on the mental side helped her stay in touch with her goal as a runner: to be the best version of herself.

Kathy noticed how Rachel’s mental work helped her consolidate her physical progress in order to achieve this goal.

“Coming in with that confidence has been a really important step for her over the past few years,” said Kathy.

Much like Schneider, Sisson loves to challenge himself to do more. Challenging herself to achieve personal goals that she sets as a runner is her favorite part of the sport.

“When you work that long towards the goal and then see it come true, it’s really exciting and cool,” said Sisson. “The really nice thing about our sport is that there is always something different, even if you fail, there is always something else just around the corner.”

Sisson also loves endurance running because it allows her to prove her strength. The grind keeps them motivated.

“She’s a natural long-distance runner,” said Sisson’s trainer Ray Treacy. “She leaves no stone unturned in doing everything right in order to be properly prepared for our workouts, our daily training and races. She is very focused on what she has to do to become the best athlete you can be. “

Treacy has been Sisson’s trainer since 2011 when she joined Providence College where he is the director of cross country and track.

Both Sisson and Schneider attribute their college experience to their continued athletic careers, with Sisson still being coached by Treacy and Schneider meeting Smith in Washington DC when she went to Georgetown.

Now both will continue their careers in Tokyo. The two expressed that navigating the extensive COVID-19 logs is a priority as they do not want to jeopardize their Olympic experience by not ticking any of the required boxes.

“In order to stay motivated to keep working every day, I just have to focus on what I am doing and focus on doing my best every day and not worrying too much about everything because it is all out of our control as athletes so we just have to go with the flow, ”said Sisson.

Schneider and Smith hope Smith will be able to attend the Olympics, but Sisson knows Treacy will not attend. You don’t worry about that.

The two already have a long-distance coaching relationship with Treacy in Rhode Island and Sisson in Arizona. For them, communicating by phone and text message, as many athletes are forced to do due to COVID-19 restrictions, which means not every coach can attend the Olympics, is the norm.

“A lot of athletes are used to seeing their coaches all the time when I’m not and we know how it works,” said Sisson. “I know what kind of feedback to give him and things like that, so it’s probably actually beneficial.”

Treacy believes her tenure at Providence means Sisson knows his system, so reiterating her lack of concern, saying one of Sisson’s strengths is her independence.

“She is very determined,” he said. “That’s why a situation like this works.”

Kathy said the same thing about Rachel. Although Rachel and Sisson know each other and train with other athletes in Flagstaff, the endurance run is ultimately an individual event.

“She would hate that I would say she did this on her own because I know it takes a village, but she doesn’t really have that team to push her,” said Kathy. “She put in a lot of mental and physical exertion on her own. For me, that’s just more impressive than anything else. “

Although the two are self-motivated, they both rely on their partners to help them exercise.

Sisson and her husband Shane Quinn met at Providence College. He ran there too, but stopped after finding fulfillment in psychosocial counseling. He started running again to keep Emily company as she worked out. The couple have two dogs.

Rachel and Smith have three dogs. Though Smith presented some challenges as her trainer and fiance, Schneider knows by the end of the day that the positives outweigh the challenges.

“We’re just doing it together on so many levels and it’s really special to work on our passions together, but then also to be partners and see us through life in all these different ways,” she said.

In the run-up to Tokyo, Sisson is training in Rhode Island because she and Treacy hope that the humidity there will be closer to the humidity in Tokyo.

Schneider will face Tokyo with the same mindset she used during the Olympic trials: focusing on running the race in a way that she will be proud no matter the result.

“I’ve listened to my heart or stomach really well since I was very young,” she said. “As long as I’m in tune with what my heart says, my goal is pretty clear to me and I’m pretty much in tune with why I’m doing what I’m doing.”