Friend of Kinetyx: Malindi Elmore
Written by Breanne Everett
It’s Friday night and I’m sitting down with my two boys, Finn (6) and Harlan (7) to watch Malindi Elmore cross the starting line for the Olympic marathon. A million preparatory steps have gone into this moment, but for Malindi, this is the only moment that matters right now.
With Kinetyx, it feels like we're at a similar place, the starter's pistol is about to fire, and in a flash, we're going to have product in the market. Until now it's been years of foundational work, building a great team, and moving every day toward the goal of upgrading human movement.
But watching Malindi, it's just this moment.
The starter pistol goes off, and we watch the rhythmic drumming of those prepared feet on the ground for the next 2:30:59. In the gruelling heat and 80% humidity, she started to feel the pain, and the nausea, but she focused. She reminded herself that they were all out there feeling that pain. If she just focused, she could push through it. The decades of preparation, of intimately understanding her own physiology and physicality, and the wings of support from her two young boys at home carried her across the line. With a meticulously executed performance, Malindi did it – she achieved her goal of being Top 10 in the Olympic marathon.
Working with athletes you realize how important it is to stay in the moment. To linger in the beauty, the pain, the potential, and the isolation of this moment.
But what helps drive Malindi to be the amazing human she is is the other roles and moments she shifts into with equal focus and intention. Athleticism akin to Elmore’s is often achieved with tunneled and knife-like focus on a goal—performance above all else, and often “all else” has to give. Family, friendship, and community often fall a distant second to the pursuit of movement domain dominance.
Not with Malindi.
To describe Malindi Elmore simply as the Canadian record holder for the marathon ignores what a force she truly is. That she shattered the records for the 25km, 30km, 35km and 40km en route still doesn’t scratch the surface.
The first time we met Malindi—months before competing in the Tokyo Olympics—she made it abundantly clear that her two young kids are her “top priority.” And while she trains for the Tokyo Olympics, she continues to be there as that amazing and present Mom, to race direct, to drive an agenda of innovation in Zwift’s evolving running portfolio, and to coach. What has fuelled Malindi has been a brimming plate—much of which is centred on giving back and contributing to a broader community of movement.
Photo by Jon Adrian
Malindi, who at 41 feels as good and moves as well (if not better) than she did in her 20s, is a stunning example of what movement longevity potential exists if we move well and quit focusing on how many trips you happened to have taken around the sun. Over twenty years of middle-distance running, triathlon, and now long-distance running has allowed Elmore to build resiliency, tenacity, aerobic capacity, and cross-functional learning.
I am beaming with pride to be welcoming Malindi to the team as a Kinetyx ambassador and builder. In working together, can we help Malindi to measure, understand and optimize her movement and her movement longevity? I truly think so. Will the entire Kinetyx team learn from, and build better products having witnessed firsthand the precision, focus, grit, and humility of one of the world’s best and most inspiring athletes? Without a doubt.
