Breaking two minutes for the 800m was a milestone, but the friendships, faith and lessons I gained along the way are what I value most.

Running has always been part of my life. Growing up, I regularly competed in primary school cross-country races and often finished on the podium. While I had a natural talent for running, my serious journey in the sport did not begin until Year 10.

In early 2022, I started running again simply to get back into shape. What began as the occasional jog quickly became a habit. At first, I balanced running alongside rowing and AFL, but by 2023 I had become more committed, increasing both my training volume and intensity.

A turning point came midway through Year 10 when Mr Mark Hipworth encouraged me to become involved in athletics at Xavier. Around the same time, I was dealing with significant mental health and sleep challenges. The structure of regular Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday training sessions provided stability, and I began to see improvements both on and off the track.

Although I narrowly missed selection in Xavier’s Open 4x800m team after running 2:06 for the 800 metres, the setback only motivated me further. After the Xavier season, I joined a running group in Box Hill coached by Steve Dinneen, who remains my coach in Melbourne today.

Consistency soon translated into results. During the 2023/24 athletics season, I lowered my personal bests to 2:03.65 for the 800m and 4:18 for the 1500m, cutting three seconds from my 800m time and ten seconds from my 1500m.

Year 11 brought further lessons. While continuing to play football through winter, I maintained structured training and averaged around 35 kilometres per week. At the All Schools Cross Country Relays at Princes Park, I recorded the fastest time across the 3.1km course, giving me confidence that I could contribute strongly to Xavier’s athletics and cross-country programs.

Not every season went to plan. Following an eighth-place finish in the APS 1500m final, where I ran 4:27 despite having recorded a personal best of 4:16 the previous week, I learned an important lesson about racing, resilience and humility. Looking back, that disappointment became one of the most valuable experiences of my journey.

The following season was a breakthrough. Throughout the summer of 2024/25, I continued lowering my 800m time and moved closer to my goal of breaking two minutes. During that period, I also strengthened my faith and connection with God, which became an important source of support and perspective.

In March 2025, I finally achieved a long-held goal, running 1:59.92 for the 800m.

Cross country then became a defining part of my Xavier experience. Alongside teammates including Brady Ryan, Alex Braine and Lucien Ihle, we built a strong culture based on commitment, encouragement and genuine enjoyment of the sport. One of my favourite memories remains the trip to Geelong, where the energy and camaraderie on the bus reflected the spirit of the team we had created.

The 2025 season also showed me that I was capable of much more than I had previously believed. After finishing tenth in my age group at the All Schools Cross Country Championships at Bundoora, I started to realise that I could compete strongly over longer distances.

By the final Xavier track season, everything began to come together. Increased mileage, greater consistency and years of accumulated training saw me running at a new level. Two weeks before the APS Finals, I recorded a nine-second personal best in the 1500m, running 4:07 and finishing third at the APS lead-up meet.

At the APS Finals, I lined up for the 3000m in what would be my final race representing Xavier. Despite being projected to finish seventh, I produced one of the best performances of my school career, finishing fourth behind two national champions and another highly regarded national athlete. Running a personal best of 9:04.89, I discovered that cross country had transformed me into a much stronger and more complete runner than I had ever imagined.

Just five days later, I lowered my 800m personal best again, running 1:58.36 at Box Hill. I followed that with strong performances across the season, including a top 10 Victorian ranking in the 1500m and a 3000m personal best of 9:00.23.

Mackye’s running journey has opened opportunities beyond Xavier. Now studying a Bachelor of Business at Bond University on the Gold Coast, he has continued to excel, recently earning selection in the Queensland Cross Country Team and building on the foundations established during his time at Xavier.

Looking back, my running journey has never been straightforward. It has been shaped by talent, certainly, but even more by consistency, humility, faith, setbacks, good people and a willingness to keep turning up. Running began as a way to get fit, but it became something much greater. It gave me purpose, community and the belief that growth is possible when you commit to the process every day.