It was a whirlwind 24 hours for Kendall Ellis.
Sitting in her Southern California home last Thursday afternoon, she got a call from her agent Wesley Felix. "How do you feel about coming to Boston to run a DMR [distance medley race]?" he said.
The former USC Trojans track and field star and New Balance athlete had a decision to make and she had to do so quickly.
Olympian and world record holder Sydney McLaughlin was supposed to make history alongside Team New Balance athletes Elle Purrier St. Pierre and Heather MacLean and United States high school indoor 800-meter record holder Roisin Willis at New Balance's state-of-the-art multisport facility, The TRACK, in Boston. The four women would attempt to establish the women's indoor distance medley relay record.
But McLaughlin pulled out a day before the runners were scheduled to lace up due to a minor hamstring issue. That's when Ellis, 26, an indoor collegiate record holder and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics 4x400 meter gold medalist, got the call.
"It was definitely stressful, but I think it was one of those moments that test you as a professional athlete," Ellis said. "This is your job. They need you, so step in and do what you can to help the team because it's bigger than you. It's not about you."
After consulting with her coach, Quincy Watts, Ellis decided to book the flight to Boston. But she wondered if she was ready to pursue a world-record attempt on such short notice.
"Mentally, it was just like, 'OK, you have been training well in practice. It's an indoor race and you were prepped for outdoors, but regardless, a 400 is a 400. You know how to run this. You've done it before. The last time you ran a 400 indoor, you got a collegiate and an American record. So, let's go back to that moment.'"
Ellis stressed to herself repeatedly, "You weren't expected to do this right now, but you're more than ready for it."
A little after 8:30 on Friday night in Boston, Purrier St. Pierre, MacLean, Ellis and Willis made history. Beating the former record by 6.06 seconds with a finishing time of 10:33.85, the four-person team set both the world indoor and outdoor records in the DMR.
"Going into the race, we knew we were capable of breaking it," Ellis said. "But it's one thing to think you can do it and then another to accomplish it.
"To see Elle cross the line, what an incredible anchor she ran. It was just really pure happiness."
Before the race started, Ellis and the other women tried to keep things light with easy conversation -- despite the event looming in all of their minds. For Ellis, she thought about her affirmations. Then, as she reminded herself that she was more than capable and given this opportunity for a reason, Ellis turned to Willis, her 17-year-old teammate. Ellis wanted to help ease some prerace nerves and get to know the person that she would hopefully be breaking a record with shortly.
Ellis said she didn't want to add pressure to the situation. But she also knew that to experience this at the age of 17 must've been surreal. And Ellis wanted to make sure she was reassuring Willis that she earned her place on the relay team, just like the rest of them.
"Before the race, I was going through a little bit of prerace nerves and was nervous about going out there in front of that big crowd," Willis said. "Even though it's a team effort, everyone has to do their part individually. And Ellis and the other women just offered me a lot of confidence. Because they had this calm sense and confidence when they were out there, which inspired me to go out there and do the same."
Ellis said she enjoyed a valuable takeaway from the conversation, as well.
"I may have learned more from her than she learned from me," Ellis said. "She was saying how much she looks forward to going and competing with her teammate and how much fun they have. And I'm like, I love that it's still fun for her. [Willis reminded me] to find joy in the sport and have fun with your training partners."
As Ellis continues to climb in her professional career, she wants her legacy to be as much about the records she holds and the medals claimed as it is about how she gives back to the next generation of young women in the sport. After Friday's record-breaking performance, Ellis thought about the importance of running a relay with Willis. Ellis said the experience reminded her to reflect on her career and think about the future of the sport.
"It was cool to have Roisin as part of the relay," Ellis said. "She's an incredible athlete, and it was nice to have two different generations -- not to make me sound oh, so old. But two different generations getting to compete together and giving her that experience and to walk away with a world record at such a young age is incredible.
"I wish I would've been able to have that experience as a high school athlete. But I think it sets the tone for future meets. We need to make sure the next generation of athletes is set up for success in the sport."
When it comes to mentorship, Ellis said she can't help but wonder what it would've been like if she had more mentors in the sport growing up. Now, Ellis explained, she wouldn't be where she is and wouldn't have had as much success at USC if it wasn't for her support system: her family, friends, teammates and coaches.
Ellis started running as a sport at the age of 7. Shortly after, while still in elementary school, she was asked to write down what she wanted to be when she grew up. So, she drew a little medal and wrote "track star." She might not have realized what that even meant to be a track star, but she knew that she would make it her profession.
"Growing up, I wish I would've had a mentor in the sport," Ellis said. "I knew the Olympics were a thing, and I knew you could go to the Olympics and run track. But I had no idea about it being a professional sport or how sponsorships worked and that there were other meets outside of the Olympics going on. I would've loved to have somebody who had done it before to show me the ropes. Having just someone to look up to and have all my questions answered."
It wasn't until her junior year of college at USC, when she made the 2017 World Championship team, that Ellis fully understood she could become a professional track and field athlete.
"Since I didn't have that growing up in the sport," she said, "I want to make sure that I'm supplying that for anybody else who wants it, who needs it, and making sure that I'm being a resource because I know how much I would've appreciated it."
Every time Ellis mentors or advises a young girl in the sport, she returns to that place of why she started running. She is reminded of the 7-year-old aspiring to be a track star one day, before the world records and gold medals.
"Mentoring young athletes grounds me. It brings me back to a place, despite this being your career and your livelihood, this is something you started because you enjoyed doing it. Because you had so much love for it and you still do," Ellis said.
"The sport will end [for me] at some point. There will be a time when I can no longer lace up and compete. People will no longer see you on TV, they won't see you running, but the legacy you leave behind and the impact you leave will be something that people don't forget."
