Looking at her now, you may say that junior Thaïs Rolly was destined to be a winner. Her dad was a professional French marathon runner and has been running with her since she was young; her siblings followed in his path, and they are both runners as well.

However, Rolly claims that she wasn’t committed to running until high school.

“I’ve always been involved in a lot of different sports growing up,” Rolly said. “I played tennis, swimming, basketball, soccer, and so running has always been a part of my life … but it wasn’t until high school where I started getting serious.”

Although she started running track in fourth grade, she wasn’t that committed, only attending practices about once a week. Since freshman year, she quit her other sports, prioritizing cross country and track. She became fully invested in running  around 7th or 8th grade, when she was diagnosed with anemia. Following the diagnosis, she began taking iron pills regularly and saw dramatic improvements in her running.

Rolly only continues to improve. Despite her current success, her first year was not smooth sailing. During freshman year she only placed 40th in state championships and had a much slower time than she does now. She quickly turned her performance around, though, winning first place in the state championship in the Virginia Class 6 girls’ cross-country championship during her sophomore year.

She continues to excel in her running career, recently winning 1st place out of some 900 participants in the Girls Challenge division of the Carlisle Invitational track meet in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, which she competed in with other varsity cross country athletes. It was her first win of the season, and likely not her last.

Cross country is a huge part of Thaïs’s day to day life. She attends practices almost every day, only stopping to take a rest day on Sundays. Her practices typically consist of two workouts, two to three short runs, and then if there’s no meet on Saturdays, her team takes one 10 mile-long run.

Outside of practice, she also tries to get in some strength training throughout the week, such as lifting weights and doing core exercises. Rolly runs year round, doing cross country during the fall season, indoor track in the winter season and outdoor track in the spring. She even trains during the summer, waking up bright and early to go on a morning run.

“Running is a very demanding sport [for] your body and very challenging mentally… you really have to push yourself,” Rolly said.

During the pandemic, her cross country schedule with the McLean team was much more difficult to manage. It was harder to communicate with her coach and she was restricted to competing against teams in the district. In such limiting conditions, Rolly found some upsides.

“We are all kind of enemies in the race,” Rolly said, “but outside of it we congratulate each other and are very supportive of each other…we really got along and learned about each other.”

During the height of the pandemic, her dad played a big role as her mentor.

“He’s always very supportive of me…he drove [me] to Pennsylvania and missed his friend’s wedding for it, so I know that he’ll always support me,” Rolly said, “he’s always screaming at me during the race…in an encouraging way”.

Although she loves a challenge, she always has to be conscious about the physical harm running may cause to her body. She makes sure to find some kind of balance, taking routine breaks and rest days. She is conscious of the physical toll it can take on her body.

“I’ve gotten injured before,” Rolly said. “It’s scary and it sucks not to run for two weeks to a month.”

Despite the risk of injury, she still finds a way to run almost everyday and loves taking the opportunity to push herself. Rolly leads with the philosophy that running is 90% mental and 10% physical.

“It’s like a mental game of who can push themselves to the limit,” Rolly said. “Although I kind of hate it in the moment, I do enjoy the strategy of running.”

Though running plays a big role in her life, Rolly says that school is always her priority. She’s had some difficulties balancing school work, social life and running ,at times choosing to run at home instead of during cross country practices because they take longer. As for future aspirations, running is definitely aligned with her college life and she has started talking to college recruiters already.

“I definitely want to run in college…but I’m not sure if I want to pursue it professionally,” Rolly said.

Even after college, running will always have a place in her heart even if it’s not a part of her career. She might even follow in her father’s footsteps and run marathons.

But no matter what, Rolly says, “I’ll run until I can’t stop running anymore.”