LIKE HIS FATHER, LUKE MCGILLIVRAY LIKES THE LONGER DISTANCE
THE EAGLE-TRIBUNE
Although only 14 years-old, North Andover’s Luke McGillivray has a slew of medals, acquired from the many road races he has run in the last few years.
They’re hanging from a large trophy, and it makes for an impressive picture in his home. But, he’ll be the first to admit that they’re a drop in the bucket to those won by his father, Dave McGillivray, the well-known (very long) distance runner and Boston Marathon race director.
“He has a huge rack of medals, like a tree of medals,” said Luke. “I liked the way it looks, so I started my own.”
Obviously, his number of medals pales in comparison to Dave, but his father says that, “Although I may have a few more than him, given I am 52 years older than him, I would say he has many, many more medals than me per the number of years each of us have been running.”
That is debatable, but there is no question that Luke is accumulating running medals and accomplishments at an impressive rate. In addition to winning numerous age-group road race medals, he was a standout for the North Andover Youth cross country team as its top runner and, in track, has the best mile time of 5:11.
That mile time is just eight seconds slower than the middle school record held by Alex Fleury, the Phillips Academy star who owns the area record in both the 800 (1:52.43) and mile (4:05.57).
“And I’m pretty sure he (Luke) would have broken that this year if there had been a (track) season,” said Bill Varney, who runs the North Andover youth track program and is an assistant at the high school in both cross country and track. “He’s got the talent and I know he works at it.”
That’s an understatement according to North Andover youth cross country coach DJ Sturtevant.
“Luke just loves to run and he gets the most out of every run — every day he seems to find a way to do something to make sure he’s getting better,” said Sturtevant. “I would always be amazed — during the winter, he would run from the middle school to the high school with his backpack, go through track practice (with the high school team) and often times skip a ride and want to run home.
“He’s got great endurance and strength for his age. One race that sticks out was the Jim Munn Invitational in Gloucester. It was only four days after Luke ran a half-marathon (in an impressive 1:31). We wondered how much he’d have left.
“He started out slower than usual but he came on strong and finished seventh, running 10:21 (for 1.7 miles). That was pretty impressive.”
Comparisons to other great runners are always difficult but Sturtevant says that while Luke “probably won’t ever have the speed of Alex Fleury, he may be as good in cross country. The longer the distance for him (Luke), the better he’ll do.”
Luke’s love of running is evident this summer as he prepares for his first high school cross country season. He’s attended two running camps and he runs six days a week, averaging about 35 miles per week. Often times, he’ll run with his dad for 5-6 miles.
He’s also found the time to run several 5Ks, which is his favorite distance. He ran an impressive 17:28 at the Millenium 5K on July 4th and, for a virtual race, he was clocked in 17:06.
“And he’s going to be that much better when he really learns how to race and not just run,” said Sturtevant.
As for his freshman year, during which he will join older sister Elle with the Knights’ distance runners, Luke has a couple of goals in mind.
“In cross country, I want to be in the low 17s (minutes) and hopefully break 17 and, in track, I want to definitely break five minutes,” he said.
That would be a great start to what could be a promising career.
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No pressure
Could being the son of legendary runner Dave McGillivray put a lot of pressure on incoming North Andover freshman Luke McGillivray?
Not at all, he says.
“I don’t think there’s any pressure,” said Luke. “All of the crazy and great things he’s done inspires me. He’s been such an influence to my running and he’s helped me throughout middle school.”
Said Dave: “We are not pushing him in any way; we are simply enjoying seeing him doing something he loves to do and doing it so well. He is light years ahead of where I was when I was his age. I can’t predict the future but I want to be standing at the Boston Marathon finish line someday to present him with his medal!”