Leah Pells has run all the way from Langley and into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame.
“It is a really nice way to wrap up a career that I absolutely loved,” she said.
“It feels very complete.
“It is a huge honour for me (and) it is nice to be recognized for having something that I really, really loved, and still love.”
On Friday, Pells was announced as part of the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame 2015 induction class.
The nine individuals and one team will be formally inducted into the Hall on May 28.
Pells, who turned 50 last month, was born in Vancouver but moved to Langley when she was a young child.
While living here, she was a part of the Langley Mustangs Track and Field Club.
She left Langley at age 18, after graduating from Langley Secondary in 1982, and wound up developing into one of Canada’s best-ever female middle distance runners.
Pells represented Canada at three Olympic Games — Barcelona (1992), Atlanta (1996) and Sydney (2000) as well as six world championships. Some of her top results include a silver medal at the 1999 Pan Am Games and a fourth-place finish in the 1500m race in 1996, missing the podium by a mere half second.
It was the best-ever finish for a North American woman in the event.
Pells now lives in Coquitlam — she was inducted into the Coquitlam Sports Hall of Fame in 2011 — with her family.
She also wrote a book — Not About The Medal — and works as a teacher and a motivational speaker.
The book chronicles her tumultuous upbringing as the child of an alcoholic mother. Her mother passed away in 2004 from complications related to her addiction.
