Where I've Been / Where I'm Going

A journal entry from Morgan McKay.

My name is Morgan. I am an OCR endurance enthusiast. I seek out the hardest events on the planet. I absolutely love the journey of training and the amazing people I meet along the way. A few of my favorite accomplishments were when I set a Guinness World Record for “Fastest 10km carrying 100lbs” and placing 1st at the Spartan Ultra World Championships in 2017 and 2nd in 2018.

I haven’t always been an athletic person and I wasn’t in any competitive sports growing up. As a teen I struggled with depression, I was modelling at the time and was constantly criticized about my appearance. I remember this moment in my life clearly as it’s when I realized that I needed a change and that was schooling. However if I wanted to go to university, I was going to have to get better grades and pay for it myself. In order to accomplish this I knew that the effort I put into things, is what I would get in return.  So with that, I decided that morning I was going to apply myself to school and get on the honor roll! This was a short term goal that I set for myself. Further to this I made a goal to make enough money for university by cutting lawns in my neighborhood which is exactly what I did, I wrote my goals down and worked towards those goals all year. My mindset changed, and I’ve been goal orientated ever since. 

My first introduction to OCR was a Spartan Sprint in Ottawa in 2011 which my cousin convinced me to attend and partake in with her. I struggled the entire event, I couldn’t do any of the obstacles but this crazy mental drive emerged and I’ve been hooked ever since. I have arranged my life in a way that allows me to train and travel to compete. I became a personal trainer and have acquired tons of certifications including: Spartan obstacle specialist, Pre and post natal, and Crossfit level 1. I also run a wide variety of boot-camps and conduct online coaching for all fitness levels.  The reward and sense of accomplishment that I feel when I am able to help clients smash their goals reconfirms my decisions that I had made and continue to on a daily basis and I wouldn’t change a thing!

I have lots of big goals in my future. I am very excited to attempt more world level titles in OCR and set more Guinness world records. I love pushing myself and endurance racing has an amazing way of bringing out real and raw emotions. These raw emotions sometimes bring out some of my fears and insecurities, such as, not good enough. I fear failure and letting people down who support and encourage me. When I race, I battle these demons by reminding myself how far I have come, I tell myself over and over that I am a badass beast woman and to keep moving forward. I can always take 1 more step, and how fortunate I am to be able to compete. That usually gets me fired up to give my absolute best on that given day! 

-Morgan