“I don’t really know why I started running,” senior middle-distance runner Beverly Elcock said.
Elcock actually began swimming at the YMCA with her older sister before she fell in love with running. As much as she loved to be in the pool, she found she loved running even more.
“I loved running around outside for fun as a kid,” Elcock said. “So running a race just seemed like another way to have fun for me. I really loved the way it felt to go speeding down a track or down a hill.”
Elcock began running when she was six in her hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana. She ran for a club named Fort Wayne Express and had a fantastic coach, Terry Milton, to guide her. Milton has trained her since she began to run.
Both of Elcock’s parents were track athletes and persuaded her and her sisters to get involved in sports, which is how Elcock fell in love with track.
Elcock stopped running while she was in middle school because she felt as though she was in the shadow of her older sister. She did have asthma and a small lung, but she was still strong.
“She was much faster than me and had inherited greater speed,” Elcock said. “I trained hard and worked hard, but I hated being ‘Shauntel’s sister’ or ‘Elcock #2.’”
Elcock went back to running in high school and remembers her mom blatantly asking, “Beverly, do you want to go to college?” After she responded with a yes, her mom prompted her to run track. And she did.
The question was, where would she go to college? Growing up in a single-mother household, it was hard to put any money away to save up for college. When her older sister received a scholarship, Elcock was also expected to get a scholarship. By the time her senior year of high school rolled around, and people began to notice her, there wasn’t much left to offer her.
“I didn’t know what to do, but I prayed and trusted God that He would make a way,” Elcock said.
Sure enough, a scout from Eastern noticed her, and Elcock was offered a full ride to Eastern, which even offered the program she wanted to major in.
Elcock’s greatest accomplishment as an athlete was helping her team win a MAC Championship. She remembers being tired, but being very happy. Her individual accomplishment she is most proud of is being able to run a 2:06 in the 800-meter after she had knee surgery.
Her main goals for this season are getting back down to a 2:06 in the 800-meter and :55 for the 400-meter.
“I really want to test my skills and maybe go for the Olympic B standard, which is a 2:01,” Elcock said. “If I can get down to a 2:03, then I might continue to train after. I don’t know, but wherever God takes me, I’ll go.”
Off the track, Elcock has many interests. She likes computer programming, photo editing, making songs, writing poems, swimming and camping, to name a few.
“My biggest hobby is art,” Elcock said, “I love to draw and paint and make comics. I also like creating stories to go with my pictures.”
Elcock’s words to live by are “Trust God, love people.” As long as she is loving and trusting God in all situations, Elcock said, she’s on the right path. He is the reason she began running in the first place.
“Running is enjoyable for me,” Elcock said. “It’s about having fun and pushing your limits.”