Margaret Harkness’ Finish Line
Margaret Harkness’ petit 5’3 frame stands in her kitchen. She is clothed in Nike from head to toe, with her face still flushed from her 9 mile run that she finished twenty minutes ago. She begins collecting ingredients for a cake she is making for her boyfriend’s family, while simultaneously texting her mother for recipe advice and looking at her planner to see what homework she has to finish before her 8 a.m. class the next morning. Harkness seems unfazed by her chaotic schedule, probably because it has all she has ever known. Harkness, a Mobile, Alabama native, has been running track since she was in the fifth grade and continues her track career in college, running long distance for the University of Mississippi track and cross-country team.
Her life seems like a numbers game, as she lists her weekly schedule, “I usually have practice twice a day at 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. And we are basically running 50 to 60 miles a week, I would say. On top of that I have 15 hours of classes that I take too. But it keeps me scheduled and gives me something to work for.” With an unwavering positive attitude, Harkness continues and says that track has ultimately helped her learn how to cope with everything she has going on in her life, she says, ““I’ve learned endurance with anything because you learn endurance with distance running but you also learn that with your school work and little things like that.” She sighs with a light chuckle and says, ““It takes a lot of practice and you have to learn how to manage your time, you have to know when to put other things before the other, like a social life and a boyfriend is in the back of the list and then it’s school and then it’s track.”
Harkness has truly made a name for herself on the Ole Miss track and cross-country team being one of their top runners. However, Harkness has not always been known for her speed but rather her large family. She smiles when talking about her sisters, “I think what a lot of people don’t know at about me, here at Ole Miss, is that I come from a big family. I am one of five girls and I’m a triplet. It’s funny because in high school I was always known as one of the triplets but here no one thinks of me like that.” Harkness is the only Ole Miss Rebel in the family as all of her sisters have or are currently attending Auburn University. Scouted by the Ole Miss track team and awarded with a scholarship, Harkness decided to go against the grain and attend the University of Mississippi.
When talking about her college decision and being away from her sisters, she says, “It has its hard moments but I am glad I did this. I’m glad that I was able to grow into a person that I wouldn’t be if I was still with them and relied on them as much as I did. I’m happy I was able to venture out and I am so glad I did. I wouldn’t trade that.” Even though her real family is in Auburn, she looks at her Ole Miss team as another family, she says, ““Running with a team and having a team is like having a another family. Running is really hard and to go through all that struggle and the hard practices and the pain, doing all that together, it kind of forms a special bond with your teammates which is really great and I love having that.”
With her twelve year track career coming to a close this spring, 22-year-old Harkness laughs and says, “I feel like I’m getting old and my body is wearing down.” She continues, explaining her final year as “bittersweet” feeling the relief of not having to compete anymore but the loss of a community. She says, ”I have my moments, after the race is done and all of my teammates are warming down together or when we just got to the hotel for traveling and being with the team. I am going to miss that so much but I am going to be glad that I am done competing. And glad that I won’t have to wake up every morning and preform my best when you’re so tired and exhausted. I feel like I am kind of ready for that to end”
Not only is Harkness’ track career ending but also her education, as she plans to graduate this May with a bachelors degree in nutrition. Although she is unsure of what will come next in her life, she admits that she will always keep running and being a runner. However, running is not what she wants to be known. She says, “Ultimately I don’t want to be known as ‘Margaret the triplet’ or ‘Margaret the runner’, I want to make a name for myself that is truly my own but I’m still trying to figure out what that is.”
