Written by: Ceri Griffiths
Welcome back Haries, in honour of Miss Rennie’s beautiful birthday I thought what better time to drop her supercalifragilistic interview. Zoe is a lovely asset to the club and I couldn’t wait to celebrate the incredible performances that she has had in her first season as a Harie over coffee. Upon Zoe’s request, we strutted our way down to Kilimanjaro after she confessed it had the quality assured stamp thanks to a previous visit with her bestie Katie Sandilands. Our interview came just before Zoe took on the mighty Sport Ball x BUCS double so prepare for a discussion of degrees, dancing, and her dream sponsor. All will be revealed momentarily…
Name: Zoe Isla Rennie
Drink order: Chai latte
What is your degree?
I do biological sciences. I basically chose it because I’m indecisive and it’s nice and broad. It’s also quite interesting and the course here has a good reputation too.
What would you study if you couldn’t do biological sciences?
Maybe architecture. I definitely had a phase when I thought about doing it. I really liked art in school and I did it GCSE. I started doing it at A Level but eventually stopped because it was a bit much with everything else.
How are you finding Edinburgh so far?
I’m really enjoying it. My course is good, it’s definitely quite full on with a lot of contact hours but I’m finding it interesting. Running is also going well and we have a really nice training group at the moment. It’s quite cool doing different sessions to the kind I used to do at home too.
Why did you choose Edinburgh?
It’s a really nice city and I like how it’s quite academic too. My dad was born here so I already felt like I had heard quite a lot about it.
What’s your Harie highlight so far?
The national relays were definitely a lot of fun. The course was quite hilly but I ended up quite liking them in the end. It was also a good atmosphere and fun being part of such a big team.
Goals for the season?
Running related, I think I will just try to focus on training consistently. I’m looking forward to summer sessions too. Through the winter we’ve been doing quite long sessions so it will be nice to switch it up.
My non-running goal is probs just to do well in my summer exams (I can tell you now that she will, Zoe is in fact a very academic weapon)
If you couldn’t run, what would be your sport?
Maybe hockey or dancing. I used to do ballet, modern and tap. I started when I was 3 and only quit last summer because it was hard to balance with running and A Level revision. I miss the people so it would be nice to reunite. It was quite relentless though, we’d train on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday at 7:45 in the morning sometimes. Some of the girls I used to dance with are now at dance school which is quite cool. Can confirm Zoe put her experience to good use when ripping up the Loughborough dance floor
Would you say dance is a sport or an art?
Probably a sport. It was quite physical and a strong core is important.
How did you get into running?
We had a teacher at school who would really encourage us to run in the XC league with other primary schools in the area. I did that in year 3 and then joined my club afterwards. There’s a few different clubs in the area but I don’t think I have an option about moving from Reading AC now. Joining Blackheath and Bromley is a no go.
How is cooking at uni going?
I like cooking but I’m also not very inventive. Pasta is my go to. At home I like baking with my mum. I am obsessed with banana bread.
Meal deal?
Tomato and feta pasta. Pineapple because it’s not something I would buy otherwise and chocolate milk #gains
Dream sponsor?
New Balance. When my dad did the New York marathon he brought me back loads of New Balance stuff.
Favourite long run route?
Portobello loop.
What’s a surprising fact about you?
I went swimming with great white sharks. Not intentionally. We were meant to be swimming with seals in South Africa but discovered otherwise once we got out. Maybe I won’t do that again.
Spirit animal?
Zoe Zebra (Peppa Pig reference apparently)
Dream dinner party guests?
- Paula Radcliffe
- Jane Goodall
- Claudia Winkleman
Song?
Supercut – Lorde
