A biography for Mary Cainhasn’t been written yet.
“It was definitely a hard decision to turn professional.”
“In the U.S., track and field struggles and I am such a trackie. I love the sport. It's one of those things where if I could garner a little more attention for it or make it a little more exciting, I would love to do that.”
“Sometimes athletes are expected to lose weight over the course of the season. But usually they work with a professional nutritionist. There's not some arbitrary target that's trying to be reached. It's more go through the process - train hard, eat well.”
“I think for me, I've always come back to the fact that I feel most alive when I'm racing. That sounds very cliche, but for me the reason I feel that is because racing is that opportunity to really find your limit.”
“I'm never one to shy away from competition or working hard.”
“I don't think I could hack it in the 200m.”
“There's something really fun about being a kicker. Once you get to 200 to go and you're still with those girls, you smell blood.”
“Rather than force young girls to fend for themselves, we have to protect them.”
“Now that I'm officially signed with Nike to get to race with the Oregon Project, it's definitely a dream come true.”
“I'm definitely somebody who wants a college degree. My attitude is, if I'm going to do it I'm going to go full in.”
“The life I live is the life I want to live.”
“It's nice in that I have my track life and I have my school life, and so far I've been balancing them really well.”
“I definitely look to people like Usain Bolt and Sanya Richards and especially Allyson Felix, being an American athlete who went pro right after high school. Of course I would like to replicate that career, but obviously as a 1500-meter runner.”
“My training is about growing, and getting better.”
“All of my friends and a lot of kids at school know what I do. It's really something that's a big deal in my town. So it keeps it really special when people do congratulate me.”
“I'll do my core, I'll do my strength training, I'll do my occasional cross training if I need it.”
“The best thing about getting hurt is that it makes you appreciate running so much more.”
“I was only looking at a few schools and narrowed it down to the University of Oregon. Having a great choice made me more excited and I knew it would be a great opportunity.”
“My competitors won't be thinking, 'Oh, she's only 18, let's go a little slower for her.'”
“I like that kind of weather. Constant drizzle. At the Olympic trials in 2012, my mom was, like, 'It's pouring rain out there, Mary. You shouldn't even notice it. You're Irish.'”