To put it simply, Alexa Dow is unstoppable. The Grade 11 athlete from Frances Kelsey Secondary School, located in Mill Bay, had quite the remarkable 2023 track and field season, which included competing at the Commonwealth Youth Games as part of Team Canada. While Dow's list of accomplishments goes on and on, the distance runner now has her sights set on cross country season, hoping to make that list of accolades even longer.
I caught up with Dow about how she got her start in athletics, what it meant for her to compete on the international stage and the goals she hopes to achieve by the end of the year.
Personal Bests
800m: 2:06.98
1500m: 4:18.64
Career Accolades
2023 Commonwealth Youth Games 1500m (5th) / 800m (7th)
2023 U20 Canadian National Track and Field Championships 800 Silver
Ended the 2023 season ranked #1 in Canada in the U18 800m / 1500m
BC Provincial Record Holder in the U16 800m / 1200m / 1500m and U18 1500m
2022 & 2023 BC High School Junior 800m / 1500m Champion and Record Holder
2022 BC High School Junior and BC Club U16 XC Champion
You could say that running runs in the Dow family. Her parents even put her in her very first fun run when she was just 18 months old and she never looked back.
"My grandpa is 70 and he runs 15km everyday. My dad has run 10km everyday since I was a baby, so I grew up in a running stroller. From there, in kindergarten, we had school runs where you would collect popsicle sticks for each lap you completed. I wouldn't stop until I had collected 40 or more. By the time I was in Grade 3 I was beating the Grade 6 and 7 kids, so I have always been competitive."
Running at school allowed Dow to find the fun in competition, but there was still more left to be desired from the sport.
"I joined my local track club when I was 9. The night before my first race I got food poisoning and my parents tried to pull me out of the race, but I insisted on going. The next day I ran my first 1000m race and won by about 300m. After that I was totally hooked. I did all the JD meets I could on the Island and in Vancouver and I started competing in the Lower Mainland cross country series the next fall. I haven't missed a cross country or track season since."
As Dow continued to run, she continued to get better and better, gaining valuable experiences within the BC High School scene. In 2022, during the end of her Grade 9 year, she competed in the BC Summer Games which was held in Prince George. Dow ended the meet as a three-time gold medalist and record holder in both the 800m and 1200m. However it was this past season that really set Dow apart from the rest.
"At the 2023 BC High School Championships I was chasing the selection standard to compete as part of Team Canada at the Commonwealth Youth Games. The 800m final was my last chance to get the standard. My teammate, Charlie Mlotshwa, had just broken the Junior Boys 3000m record, so I just used that momentum to give it everything I had."
Dow ended up winning the race, broke her own Junior Girls High School record, which she set in 2022, and ran the time she needed for selection. "I've dreamt of being on Team Canada since I was 9. I'd see athletes in their red Team Canada jackets and I wanted to be them more than anything. So putting on that same red jacket and getting on the plane to Trinidad and Tobago was a dream come true."