Sasha Gollish (born December 27, 1981) is a Canadian competitive runner.[4] She won a gold medal in the half-marathon at the 2013 Maccabiah Games in Israel, a bronze medal in the 1500 m at the 2015 Pan American Games, and gold medals at the 2017 Maccabiah Games in the 800m, 1,500m, and 5,000m events. She won the 2016 Canadian women's 10K Cross Country Championship, the 2017 women's 8K North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) Cross-Country Championship, and the 2018 Canadian Half Marathon National Championship. In 2022, Gollish set a new women’s 40+ indoor mile world record, and that same year she won the gold medal at the 2022 NACAC Half Marathon Championships

Sasha Gollish
Gollish at the 2018 Berlin Marathon
Personal information
National team Canada
Born (1981-12-27) December 27, 1981 (age 42)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
EducationBachelor of Engineering (University of Western Ontario); B.A. in Economics, Masters of Engineering, and PhD in Civil Engineering Education (University of Toronto).
Height165 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Weight48 kg (106 lb)
Websitewww.sashagollish.com
Sport
SportRunning
University teamUniversity of Toronto Varsity Blues[1]
ClubRoyal City Athletics Club[2]
Coached byTerry Radchenko[2]
Achievements and titles
Regional finals
National finals
Highest world rankingWorld record in women’s 40+ indoor mile (2022)
Personal bests
  • 600m 1:36.52 (2011)
  • 600m ind. 1:29.71 (2015)
  • 800m 2:02.90 (2015)
  • 1000m ind. 2:40.99 (2017)
  • 1500m 4:07.08 (2015)
  • 1500m ind. 4:18.75 (2015)
  • Mile 4:32.17 (2021)
  • Mile ind. 4:38.73 (2022)
  • 3000m 9:00.42 (2016)
  • 3000m ind. 9:11.09 (2017)
  • 5000m 15:24.12 (2017)
  • 10000m 32:56.89 (2022)
  • 3000mSC 11:10.74 (2002)
  • 5 km Road 16:10 (2016)
  • 10 km 33:03 (2022)
  • Half Marathon 1:11:05 (2016)
  • Marathon 2:32:54 (2019)
  • 4x800m ind. 8:32.36 (2015)[3]
Medal record
Women's Athletics
Representing  Canada
Maccabiah Games
Gold medal – first place Jerusalem 2013 Half-marathon
Gold medal – first place Jerusalem 2017 800m
Gold medal – first place Jerusalem 2017 1,500m
Gold medal – first place Jerusalem 2017 5,000m
Pan American Games
Bronze medal – third place Toronto 2015 Women's 1500m
Updated on 5 July 2017

Early and personal life

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Gollish was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to Dr. Jeffrey Gollish and Dr. Patricia Houston.[4] She has two younger siblings, Tara and Joey.[4]

For high school Gollish attended York Mills Collegiate Institute.[1] She has a B.A. in Economics (University of Toronto), a Bachelor of Engineering (University of Western Ontario), a Masters of Engineering (U of T), and a PhD in Civil Engineering Education (U of T), in studying for which she researched the best way to teach engineering students to use math.[5][6][7][4][8][9][10]

She works as an engineering consultant.[4] Gollish is a civil engineer, with a focus on road safety.[8] She is also a competitive cyclist, duathlete, triathlete, and ultimate frisbee player.[4]

Running career

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2010-15

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Gollish began running seriously at 30 years of age.[11] She has run for the University of Toronto Varsity Blues.[1]

She won the half-marathon at the 2013 Maccabiah Games.[4] Gollish won the 2013 Sporting Life 10K in Toronto with a time of 35:58.[12]

Gollish finished fifth in the 1500m at the 2014 Canadian Track and Field Championships.[4][8] She won the Sporting Life 10K in Toronto with a time of 34:19.[13]

At the 2015 Pan American Games, competing for Team Canada, Gollish won a bronze medal in the Women's 1500m with a time of 4:10.11.[4][14] She was named 2015 Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Female Athlete of the Year (track events) for her performance at the CIS Championships, winning three gold medals in the 1000m, 3000m, and 4 × 800 m relay events and two silver medals in the 600m and 1500m events, the most individual medals ever won by a distance athlete.[4][15][16] She was also named MVP of the 2015 Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Championships after winning three individual gold medals in the 600m, 1500m, and 3000m events.[4] In November 2015 she was named one of the Top 8 Academic All-Canadians by Canadian Interuniversity Sport.[17] In December 2015 she won the silver medal in the San Antonio Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon.[18]

2016-20

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In March 2016, Gollish won a silver medal in the senior 10K with a 37:53 run at the 2016 Pan American Cross Country Cup.[19] In November 2016 she won the CNO Financial Indianapolis Monumental Half-Marathon with a time of 1:11:07, setting a new course record.[15] Later that month Gollish won the senior women's 10K at the Canadian Cross Country Championships in Kingston, Ontario, at Fort Henry.[20]

In March 2017, Gollish won the senior women's 8K with a time of 26:48 at the North America, Central America and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) Cross-Country Championships in Boca Raton, Florida.[21] In June 2017 she won the women's 5000m in 15:24.12 at the Stumptown Twilight track meet at Lewis & Clark College.[22]

In July 2017 she came in third in the women’s 5,000m at 15:42 at the Canadian Track and Field Championships in Ottawa.[23][24] In 2017 Gollish also set the Canadian 35+ masters 1,500m record with a time of 4:07.70, and the Canadian 35+ 5000m record with a time of 15:24.12.[25][26]

Gollish won gold medals in the 800m, 1,500m (in 4:18.41), and 5,000m events at the 2017 Maccabiah Games, and received the Female Athlete of the Games award from Israeli supermodel closing event host Bar Refaeli.[23][27]

In May 2018, she won the Canadian National Championship in the Half Marathon in Calgary, Canada, with a time of 1:14:19.[28]

On July 11, 2018, Gollish completed the marathon distance in a training run in a respectable 3:18:48. Her debut marathon was in Berlin in September of the same year. Unfortunately, at 31 kilometres she was forced to DNF after the honking of a blocked pace car behind her caused her to go into an anaerobic state, leading to her cramping severely, walking, and then falling down.[29] She was dragged off the course in full-body rigour by paramedics and brought to the hospital.[30] After the incident, she said: "I wanted to quit racing. I’m an engineer, I have a Ph.D., why am I doing this?" But after a few days she realized that she was too in love with running to stop.[29]

2021-present

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In 2021 Gollish set the W35 Canadian national record in the mile at age of 39, with a time of 4:23.17.[26]

On February 27, 2022, Gollish set a new women’s 40+ indoor mile world record of 4:38.73, breaking the decade-old record by six seconds, at the Ontario Masters Championships in Toronto.[31][32]

In June 2022, Gollish broke the previous women’s Canadian 40+ 1,500m record by seven seconds in a time of 4:16.46 at the La Classique d’athlétisme de Montréal.[25] In 2022 she also won two national championship medals, in the 10,000m (silver) and road 10K (bronze), and the gold medal at the 2022 NACAC Half Marathon Championships in San Jose, Costa Rica in mid-May.[25]

In September 2022 she won the women’s vertical climb at the Canadian Mountain & Trail Running Championships in Vernon, British Columbia.[32]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Sasha Gollish - 2015 Women's Cross Country," University of Toronto Varsity Blues.
  2. ^ a b "Sasha Gollish". Athletics Canada.
  3. ^ "Profile of Sasha GOLLISH | All-Athletics.com". Archived from the original on 24 March 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Sasha Gollish". 3 July 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  5. ^ Sasha Gollish (2020). Mathematics (Education) in the Information Age, Chapter 9.
  6. ^ Sasha Gollish (2019). An Investigation Into Mathematics for Undergraduate Engineering Education to Improve Student Competence in Important Mathematics Skills
  7. ^ "Sasha Gollish".
  8. ^ a b c "How a Pan Am runner used her PhD program to train her body and mind," The Globe and Mail.
  9. ^ "Getting to know Sasha Gollish,", Canadian Running Magazine.
  10. ^ "Sasha Gollish teaches alumni a lesson in persevering on and off the track", U of T Engineering News.
  11. ^ "Sasha Gollish looks to end season on a high note," Canadian Running Magazine.
  12. ^ "Thousands take part in run to help kids with cancer," CP24.com.
  13. ^ "Top 5 reasons to run the Sporting Life 10K," Canadian Running Magazine.
  14. ^ "Jasmin Glaesser Wins Gold Medal In Pan Am Games Women's Road Race", Huffington Post.
  15. ^ a b "Sasha Gollish wins Indianapolis Monumental Half, breaks course record," Canadian Running Magazine.
  16. ^ "Distance runner Sasha Gollish, 33, recognized as Athlete of the Year", City Centre Mirror.
  17. ^ "Sasha Gollish honoured as one of the Top 8 Academic All-Canadians," U of T Engineering News.
  18. ^ Kelsall, Christopher (7 December 2015). "Sasha Gollish interview: PhDs, and road and track racing".
  19. ^ Huebsch, Tim (4 March 2016). "Canada goes 1-2 in junior women's race, Sasha Gollish wins 10K silver at Pan Am XC Cup". Canadian Running Magazine.
  20. ^ "Highlights from the 2016 Canadian Cross-Country Championships," Canadian Running Magazine.
  21. ^ "Canadian trio win at 2017 NACAC Cross-Country Championships," Canadian Running Magazine.
  22. ^ "Stumptown Twilight: Galen Rupp gets his tune-up race, Travis Burkstrand gets the standard," The Oregonian.
  23. ^ a b "Sasha Gollish wins Maccabiah Games 1,500m days after national bronze". 13 July 2017.
  24. ^ "Canadian Olympian Andrea Seccafien wins national title as unsponsored athlete". 7 July 2017.
  25. ^ a b c Dickinson, Marley (7 June 2022). "Sasha Gollish breaks Canadian 40+ masters 1,500m record". Canadian Running Magazine.
  26. ^ a b Kelsall, Christopher (10 June 2022). "Sasha Gollish re-writing the Canadian masters record book".
  27. ^ "Canada wraps up Maccabiah games with 50 medals". The Canadian Jewish News. 21 July 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  28. ^ "Sasha GOLLISH | Profile". World Athletics.
  29. ^ a b Kelly, Madeleine (25 September 2018). "Sasha Gollish: reflections after not finishing her marathon debut". Canadian Running Magazine.
  30. ^ "Sasha Gollish: Reflections after not finishing her marathon debut". 25 September 2018.
  31. ^ Dickinson, Marley (28 February 2022). "Canada's Sasha Gollish breaks 40+ indoor mile world record". Canadian Running Magazine.
  32. ^ a b Cyr, Alex (19 September 2022). "Winners Crowned at First-Ever Canadian Mountain & Trail Running Championships". Athletics Canada.
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