Salmon Arm’s Sandra Kilmartin is wrapping up a varsity running career at UBC that saw milestones both on and off the track.
Coming off of a recent win in the 4x800m relay at the National Intercollegiate Athletic Association’s (NAIA) Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Gulf Shores, Alabama, Kilmartin brought her university athletic days to a close on a high.
While sport has become an important part of her life, competition is just a fraction of what kept her going. With a tenacious drive, Kilmartin became an integral part of the UBC Thunderbirds’ running team’s success. But rather than the thrill of victory, Kilmartin says she stuck around for the experiences and friendships that university athletics provide.
“My university running experience has been incredible,” she begins. “Just the fact that I get to do what I love with all my closest friends, and we get to travel to all these places together… my teammates inspire me every day. I love the people I have met along the way.”
While her time spent on the Coast has granted her amazing an opportunity to travel and meet people, there has always been something — or, rather, someone – special waiting for her back in Salmon Arm: her older sister Shauna, quite possibly the most important person in Kilmartin’s world.
At eight months, Shauna developed Dravet Syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy which has left her severely autistic and in need of constant care. Their relationship cuts through those issues, leaving a lasting sisterly bond that has rubbed off on Sandy in more ways than one.
“We’re super close. I think it’s because I really understand her,” she says. “My favorite thing about her is her sense of humor, she honestly makes our days multiple times a day. She has just taught me so many things in life. She taught me to be patient, to not take life for granted. It puts everything in a different perspective.”
The 25-year-old dietetics major, just on the cusp of graduation and currently completing an internship at Vancouver General Hospital, admits that the sights to be seen along the way were perhaps the highlight of her athletic pursuits.
“Just the travelling was probably one of my favourite parts, all these different places we got to see,” she says. “We’re in an American league, even though we are a Canadian school, so seeing all these different towns in the U.S. that I would never go to otherwise was a great experience.”
After two consecutive silver medal finishes at the NAIA National Championships in previous years, closing out her varsity career with the gold medal in Gulf Shores — with a record-breaking finish — puts a brilliant cap on a journey that was already filled with highlights.
Aside from her contribution to the team’s record breaking performance, Kilmartin has been an avid volunteer with several UBC programs. For example, she worked with the UBC’s athletic dieticians on a website where varsity athletes could get information on proper diets. She also led tours of UBC for high school students, spoke to high school girls about the importance of nutrition in maintaining health and provided workshops for UBC students on planning a healthy diet within a budget.
In a way, Kilmartin has come full circle with her volunteering and feels satisfied knowing the work she has done likely had a positive effect.
“It feels really good, especially talking with those kids on the tours,” she says. “I remember I did a tour at UBC when I was in high school, it kind of inspires you and you realize you can go to university like all these people. That was really rewarding, hearing them ask questions and get excited about it.”
All this, plus the demands of classes and the track team and maintaining some semblance of a social life left Kilmartin strapped for time; however, she seems to welcome the challenge and the break athletics provided from marathon study sessions.
“As much as it was kind of stressful at times, I always looked forward to practice. It was like a break from kind of just studying all day,” she says. “So much studying is done on the road and on the plane. I’ve written multiple midterms in hotel rooms and conference rooms with my coach sitting there.”
As to what the future holds, Kilmartin is hoping to continue to work in hospitals in a clinical setting to build experience in the health and nutrition fields before making the transition to sports nutrition, perhaps even starting her own private practice.
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