From Whitehorse to Medicine Hat: This Coach/Athlete Duo Just Won’t Stop!
The athletes are always encouraging and supportive of each other, they bring a sense of community that is so fulfilling!
Leah Greenway started coaching with Special Olympics Yukon in the mid-late 2000s, when she saw a local ad while feeling eager to volunteer in the local community. While originally a cross-country skiing coach—based on her own athletic experience, including the time she competed at the Canada Games—her local athletics team needed a coach and Leah was happy to fill the gap. She has continued to coach Whitehorse’s Special Olympics track team for close to 15 years.
She will be travelling with the one athlete from Yukon who will be representing their territory in athletics this year, Darby McIntyre, who Special Olympics Canada previously covered when they travelled to the World Winter Games as a cross-country skier.
“It’s crazy,” Leah said, “I’ve never seen an athlete with a love of running as much as Darby does.” She is also equally surprised by how supportive Darby is of the other athletes, coaches, and parents who show up to competitions. “Everyone knows Darby,” she said, “they’re very social, and they support the other athletes, stop and wave.”
Darby competes in long distance 3k, 5k, and 10k races, each of which Leah believes will be held on a separate day while they are in Medicine Hat. She said her athlete’s training is mostly focused on “coasting” and maintaining their current health, although Darby did break some personal records while competing at the Provincial Games last year. Together, the two of them will be travelling with a younger, male coach who is Leah’s mentee.
Being a desert town, Medicine Hat is forecast to have extremely hot weather during the Summer Games, especially in comparison to Whitehorse which is having an unusually cool summer. However, Leah expressed confidence in both her team’s and the game organizers’ ability to keep athletes cool. As an example, she reminisced on a past Game her and Darby went to, where volunteers set up tents and water misters.
“We went to—I think it was Nanaimo—it was super hot. 36 degrees when Darby was running.” She said, adding, “Darby isn’t big on hats, but is big on dumping water over their head. The volunteers allowed me to hand Darby water bottles during the race and they would just dump water on their own head.”
While Leah clearly does a lot to benefit her athletes, she also said that being part of Special Olympics has been immensely helpful in her own life. A paramedic of several years—who left the field due to work-related PTSD—Leah is now working with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) as an admin assistant with plans to retire in December.
I think that as humans it’s innate in us to quantify our life with work, work becomes the essence of what we do. That’s why I volunteer so much so I always have that other side to rely on.
As with many volunteers and coaches, Leah’s interview made it clear that her connection to Special Olympic athletes is a major highlight of her role. With four children and four grandchildren—most of whom having left the nest and set down roots outside Whitehorse—Leah said the athletes she has in town are like a “special family” to her.
They teach you a lot in humility and perseverance, there’s a million words to say why I’ve stayed as a coach. They’ve done as much for me as I’ve done for them!
