#3Pillars | Elinor Purrier: From the Farm to NCAAs

I grew up on a dairy

farm

and I don't see about 30 tiles right now, we also have beef cows and we sell, hey, my brother beats a bunch of maples to make people vomit in the spring. I used to run on the page when I was a kid, but I just grew up in a counting type of

farm

ing, so I think my brothers and I played a big role growing up on the farm, you know, we just do whatever it is that we tend to do. helping milk the cows, feeding the cows, taking care of the heifers, helping get the hay and something like that, you know, we all play our different roles on different days.

My favorite job on the farm was milking. I really enjoy being dressed in cow clothes and spending quality time with them. It's funny that people are so interested in it because when I'm from there, so I guess you can say that it's normal to grow up on a farm, but here there aren't a lot of people involved with farming and, most especially, it's fun to hear the different questions that I get and and how intrigued people are. I really liked the campus coach and the team. When I came to visit, I felt like it was a place I really fit in, plus it had nutrition, which was something I was very serious about while I was studying. a good distance from home too, which was a big factor, you know, not too far but not too close either, so overall it seems like a great option for me.

Ellie comes from a small town in northern Vermont in Montgomery Beaumont where she grew up. The family is our dairy farmers and she has grown up and she knows what hard work is. Ellie is sweet. UNH has very athletic kids that play high school basketball, so she has some speed at home, she has a lot of athleticism and she could get who. She just discovered herself as an athlete here at UNH and she discovered a world of opportunities. She is a very talented girl. This whole process for her has been a recovery process and I think she is discovering if she has some unique talents and working hard to develop them.

The other thing about Ellie that has been great is Sandy UNH and she has become a really excellent student. She is a top student. She specializes in nutrition, so for her it's not just about running in circles. She's really she's trying to learn a lot about running, but also. I learned a lot about nutrition and the world around it, so it's been a great journey. Thank you. I'm really into it, you know, growing up, but I have a big appetite and I really enjoy food and I think that's something that's really important in my life. In life, not only as a person but also as a runner, there are so many things you can do with it and I just had a passion for it and you wanted to be able to pursue a career in it and maybe help other people with their nutrition to figure out how your body really needs and seeing the impact it can have on my performance and my training has definitely impacted how I look and there's something that I'm really focusing on right now and I'm really trying to eat all the right numbers and do a good job with that.

As far as Ellie goes, when I saw her in high school, I knew she was a dynamic athlete and I know she was going to run 29 miles as a sophomore eligibility. I mean, I'd be crazy to say yes. that, but I knew she was going to be very successful and then once she got to campus, once I started seeing some of the things that could be done with practice, I thought, wow, this girl has got something, some skills. unique, but one of the things we have to do is be very patient with it, it would be very easy to try to force things and Ellie needed time, you still need time to develop those skills, so just going step by step has led to the Olympic trials and to the 29th All American bronze, that episode with the fastest created time is definitely infinite or not intimidating, but you know I felt a lot of pressure starting the race, so I say that inside it was a really good experience to learn . how to race with that pressure, you know, also raising some really amazing girls and really talented girls to be up there and compete with them, Jamie, some confidence moving forward into the spring, where I am as a runner and what I can do. doing under pressure like that, the overall race experience helps in NC double-a outdoor only, but also knowing that I have the training in my spine just for some of the miles will help me, you know, get through that last mile and what people because it was It was a really tough race, you know, and just thinking about that speed helped me mentally get over the winter at the end of the race, but definitely racing again, you know, that both races were against these talented girls me They helped immensely in becoming a stronger runner and runner was in Providence I was early in the season I was, you know, chasing the time because I knew I had some girls to run with in that race and I knew I was always in good shape, I wasn't putting too much pressure on myself because I knew I still had most of the season to run the clock, but I just worked out, you know, people have good days and bad days, and that day was a good day, you know. , I was super excited, super happy.

I know it's just a feeling to see the clock, you know, it's something I've been thinking about for a long time and to finally do it and have my parents there and maybe they can see me, you know, it was really exciting too. I was young to get that time and know I was going to compete in July at the Olympic Trials, just trying to improve from the year before, so a seventh year early I wanted to be better than that. I knew I could know I had some great girls to have fun with obviously Courtney was amazing and I was excited to be in that race you know I was in a race that made history so it was exciting but I was happy with where I played, You know, I ran a strategic race, I thought. and it wasn't the end of my season at all either, so yeah, I'm happy about that.

To be honest, I was growing up and didn't even know what Eugene Oregon was, so I didn't really think about it. I guess until I got closer to university, but it's been really great. I really like teaching this and optimally executing it makes me excited when I think about all the things I've accomplished, but I'm always looking forward at the same time. You know what I can do next, but I'm proud of what I've accomplished, but I think it's been a long time coming. You know, it's one small step at a time, one small step more and I'm alone.

I'm trying to get better and better, you know, and yeah, I'm very happy with where I am and where I'm going, so definitely the IRA culture is something that will be in my life in the future, it's a big part of what I am not. I'm exactly sure what the graduate plan is, but it will definitely probably involve the agricultural business.