GTC-ELITE Wishes Farewell to Mackenzie Lowe

Mackenzie Donahue visited Greenville with her then fiancé Greg Lowe in December of 2019 to interview with Greenville Track Club-ELITE as a potential program to pursue her running goals. After marrying Greg in the summer of 2020 they relocated to Greenville from their homes in Buffalo, NY as she joined the post-collegiate, Olympic-development program. She was employed at Fleet Feet and Greg worked as a physical therapist at Purposed PT. 

After 33 months in Greenville, she and Greg will be moving back home to Buffalo at the end of May as Greg has a teaching position at their alma mater, Daemen University. Greg will also be starting his own physical therapy business. 

During her time with the program, Mackenzie competed in 15 races and placed among the top four in nine of those competitions. She won the 2021 Red, White & Blue Shoes 5K and placed 3rd, 2nd and 4th in the most recent United Community Bank Reedy River Run 10Ks. Her proudest moment was running her personal best of 2:48:50 in the 2021 Philadelphia Marathon. 

Mackenzie explained, “I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to run for the GTC-Elite program these past few years and for everything that Coaches Mike and Laura have done for me! I feel like I’ve grown so much as a runner and as an individual during my time in Greenville, and I’m so thankful for experiencing being a part of this awesome elite running program and the community that has come with it. I’m also grateful to have had the opportunity to run with some incredibly talented teammates who I’ve been able to learn so much from. I wish the program only the best moving forward and I’m so excited to see where GTC Elite takes Jason and Eddie next— I’m so excited to see their talent continue to progress and I’ll miss them so much as well! I’ll be continuing to root for the team’s future success and growth!”

"Mackenzie will be missed by all who know her," stated GTC-ELITE coach Mike Caldwell. "She is always so positive and brings her smile to workout sessions and lifts everyone's spirits and I will definitely miss her enthusiasm. She and Greg were a valuable part of our program, but life keeps moving on and they are ready for the next phase in their lives. We wish them the best and know they will have great memories of their time in Greenville." 

Greenville Track Club-ELITE was established in 2012 and is entering its second decade as a post-collegiate, Olympic development program. The program produced four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles, one qualifier/participant for the 2019 Pam American Games Marathon in. Lima, Peru, three qualifiers/two participants for the 2020 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Atlanta, GA and one qualifier and participant in the 2021 USATF Olympic Track & Field Trials in the 3000m Steeplechase. The program's runners set four South Carolina State road race records in 2020 (5K, 15K and Half Marathon--twice) and three (15K, 10-Mile and 20K) in 2021. GTC-ELITE also produced the South Carolina Men's 2020 Long Distance Runner of the Year. 

​The program is sponsored and supported by the 51-year-old Greenville Track Club, ASICS, Joy Real Estate (Adopt an Athlete partner), generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Carolina Spine and Rehab, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Cocoa Elite recovery products, UCAN energy products, Coach Bob Williams Pace Calculator, the DorsiFlex (stretching device), the MOBO board (balance & mobility), On Pace Wellness (nutrition coaching) and LEVER Movement (treadmill body weight support). The club is a proud and active member of both the Road Runners Club of America and USATF.​