CORVALLIS, Ore. – When Emily Hawgood first thought about going to college, she knew she wanted to study agriculture in the United States but didn’t know where.
Emily Hawgood, a College of Idaho graduate, is now
a professional AdidasTerrex trail runner.
After searching through college databases, the Beatrice, Zimbabwe, native came across the University of Idaho, but that path eventually took her in a different direction.
“I thought the University of Idaho was really cool, especially the mountains in Idaho,” said Hawgood. “Plus, Idaho has potato farms and my dad is a potato farmer. Somewhere along my application process, I got confused with the University of Idaho and the College of Idaho. I thought they were the same thing.”
Hawgood started talking to Coach Pat McCurry and through that process, realized the University of Idaho and the College of Idaho were in fact not the same thing, but she thought that might actually work in her favor.
“It ended up working well for me,” said Hawgood, who was a tri-sport athlete for the Coyotes. “I had more options that wouldn’t have happened at the University of Idaho.”
Outside of competition, Hawgood was a Cascade Collegiate Conference All-Academic honoree and was a member of the CCC SAAC, including Vice Chair at one point.
“I loved SAAC,” said Hawgood. “It was an amazing organization initiated for the students to have a say, making not only decisions for athletes on campus, but we ultimately made NAIA decisions. It also made it more of a family. You felt involved across the teams. It was so unique with athletes from all sports and backgrounds.”
SAAC took Hawgood to the NAIA conference in San Diego where she got to discuss different issues at a national level.
“Being able to talk to coaches and admin about what we saw from our teams,” said Hawgood. “It’s about the athletes, so they should have a say when decisions are being made. I also loved meeting the different SAAC reps through the CCC. Made meets and games more fun since I could connect with them. You don’t get that community feel at a big DI school.”
Hawgood is a few years removed from the College of Idaho, where she graduated with a degree in exercise physiology after falling in love with an exercise nutrition class. She’s now working on her masters in high altitude exercise physiology at Western Colorado University, but CCC Commissioner Robert Cashell still keeps in contact with her – something she might not have gotten from a big DI commissioner.
“Working with Rob was a blessing,” said Hawgood. “He still checks in with me, which is so incredible. He loves his athletes and that makes you feel valued as an athlete, which is huge. When you’re valued, it improves the longevity to keep competing, you give it all you’ve got.”
Now, Hawgood gives everything she’s got as a professional AdidasTerrex trail runner and competes in something called “sky running” – which is more technical than trail running where athletes climb more and run a lot of ridgelines. The distance also varies from 21K to 75K on a sky running race. It takes a lot of time but is shorter than trails because of the vertical gain.
“A lot of people tell NAIA athletes they’ll be done competing when they finish college, but that’s just not true,” said Hawgood. “Being an NAIA athlete makes you more rounded. I hope that stigma goes away. The work ethic is just as important at a small school as a big school. There’s more individuality at the NAIA level too. Coaches have more chances to coach more individually and athletes think about how they can step up to help the team.”
Emily Hawgood competing in sky running.
Her relationship with her coaches also led to Hawgood getting connected with the sky running community. She had an opportunity to run in Europe and fell in love with sky running, especially the traveling, but has taken a step back due to the coronavirus and gone back to more trail running.
Recently, Hawgood signed up for the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, which is a trail-running event that spans three countries in Europe. The race is set to begin August 23 and ends almost a week later on August 29.
“I’ve been to places I never would have gone,” said Hawgood, who has some bucket list destinations. “I went to New Zealand when I was young and would love to go back. I loved it, but didn’t do what I do now. I also really want to go to Thailand for an altitude race, that would be really cool.”
When Hawgood began her college journey as a cross country, track and swim athlete for the College of Idaho, she had no idea where that path would take her. Not surprisingly, Hawgood has competed in Ironman Triathlons, but she didn’t find that fire inside until she took to the sky.
“I tried to travel and do Ironman Triathlons but didn’t enjoy it as much as when I started trail and sky running,” said Hawgood. “I’m so glad I changed sports.”