Daily Iowan: I have a few quick one-on-one questions for you today. First, how did you get started running?

Brooke McKee: For my whole life, I’ve wanted to be like my sister, so I followed her through everything she did. I actually wanted to play volleyball, but she ran cross country, and I would come with her to morning practices when she was a freshman and I was a seventh grader. The reason she started was because we had a neighbor who saw us always running through the neighborhood playing tag. She was the middle school cross country coach, so she told us we should do cross country because we never got tired when we ran.

DI: What made you look up to your big sister so much?

She is really good at always including me in everything. She’s always super sweet and nice. She’s the kind of person that when you talk or make a joke, she’ll laugh even if it isn’t funny. She just makes you feel good no matter what.

DI: Would you say you were always a good runner, or did this talent come with time?

For the most part, I’ve always been a good runner. A chunk of it was talent, but since we were always out playing and running around without realizing it, I was training.

DI: When was the shift in your career when you realized you had talent?

The first year I began running was in seventh grade, and my sister took me to some of the summer practices where I got to run with the high school girls. I was actually able to keep up with them and run beside them. They were all really impressed with that. 

DI: What’s your favorite hobby outside of running?

I really like to visit different coffee shops. One of my go-to places is Panera. While I’m there, I won’t use my headphones or anything. I’ll just look around and people-watch. It’s really fun to see certain encounters people have with others. I just like to see the kind gestures people do.

DI: What’s your go-to order at Panera?

It depends on what time of day it is. If it is breakfast, I will do a cinnamon toast crunch bagel with a yogurt stick because that’s what I use for my cream cheese. I’ll get a black coffee and add the Core Powers that we get at the facility to it. For lunch, I get a “pick two” with a tuna salad sandwich, broccoli cheddar soup, and chips.

DI: What are you going to do after college?

I had an internship with a company back home [Zirous] and I went in as the data analyst. They asked me to come back. First, I am looking to hopefully take a fifth year. After that, I would go work at Zirous in the Managed IT Services division.