‘Over the moon’: Former Gonzaga rower Amélie Tristant – now marathoner – joins exclusive ‘six star finisher’ club

Outside of keeping her in shape during the college rowing offseason, running had never been a big part of Amélie Tristant’s life.

But now, she said, she is hooked.

Earlier this year, Tristant, a Gonzaga graduate and local nurse practitioner, ran the London Marathon to mark her sixth completed event in the World Marathon Majors series.

“It was just so – I don’t even know how to describe it,” Tristant said of running the London Marathon on her 30th birthday. “I just felt lucky, so, so lucky because I didn’t think it would happen. Then it did.”

The Abbott World Marathon Majors is a competition for runners to race in major cities across the world. The organization recognizes seven marathons as a part of its points-based competition – New York City, Boston, Chicago, Tokyo, Berlin, London and Sydney, which was recently added.

Prior to the addition of Sydney, Tristant had raced and finished in four of the six marathons. Only Tokyo and London remained for her to receive the “six-star finisher” title.

Tristant and her mom were on a 200-mile hike from Spain to Portugal when she got the news that she would be running in Tokyo.

“I was just over the moon,” she said.

Tristant completed the Tokyo Marathon in less than 3 hours and 10 minutes in March, just minutes behind her best time.

After being rejected for London earlier in the year, she expected a long layoff until the Chicago marathon in the fall.

But then she got an unexpected message – the Abbott World Marathon Majors, knowing she was one away from her sixth star, rewarded her with a last-minute entry into the London Marathon.

“I thought it would be a really cool lifelong goal,” Tristant said of completing her sixth major race. “I didn’t really think it would come in such quick succession.”

‘Mighty Lighty’

Tristant, originally from San Ramon, California, was interested in attending Gonzaga due to its nursing program.

She had played soccer and competed in track and field – shot put and discus throw – in high school, but being a college athlete was not necessarily on her mind.

That was until she heard through some friends about rowing, so Tristant reached out to one of the coaches.

“I was like, ‘Oh, that would be kind of cool to see,’ ” Tristant said. “ ‘I’m tall and I’m strong – I spent most of high school weightlifting for shot put and discus so let’s try it.’

“… I ended up getting the hang of it and I really loved it”

She walked on to the team and went on to compete in the NCAA championships her sophomore, junior and senior seasons on the four-rower boat.

Tristant earned the nickname “Mighty Lighty” for her lean build but strong output.

Majoring in nursing, Tristant graduated from Gonzaga in 2018.

“When I was done rowing, I was like, ‘Shoot, what am I going to do? I don’t have to work out for like two hours every day,’ ” she said.

Then running came into the picture.

Tristant quickly found a love for the sport and soon picked up long distances. She planned to run her first marathon in Chicago in 2020, but the coronavirus pandemic delayed it until 2021.

Her goal was less than 3:30 to qualify for Boston, which she beat by a minute.

She ran her second marathon in Boston in 2022.

“It’s kind of been a love affair ever since then,” Tristant said.

World majors

Soon enough, running became more than a hobby. Tristant eyed the six majors.

In 2023, as a self-proclaimed “mad woman,” she ran five marathons.

That year, while living in Minnesota and working in nurse psychiatry, Tristant ran marathons in Minnesota, Boston and Berlin in September, Chicago in October and New York City in November.

“It was nuts,” Tristant said. “It was absolutely nuts.”

Tristant has since graduated with her doctorate from Creighton and moved back to Spokane, where she works for CHAS Health.

Thirteen marathons in, Tristant is still just getting started.

Outside of aiming for a sub-3-hour time, as well as planning to run in Sydney and any other events the World Marathon Majors add, she has some other, more lofty goals.

But some are so ambitious, such as running the Antarctic Ice Marathon in Antarctica or running marathons on all seven continents in seven days, she admits it may take a sponsorship to complete them.

Regardless, marathon running has a place to stay in Tristant’s heart.

“Just having all that work for months, getting up at 4 a.m. in the morning to go for a run before I would have to do a 12-hour shift at the hospital – it just pays off in such an amazing way,” Tristant said. “Finally, you show up to race day and you are surrounded by tens of thousands of people who have been training for the same thing.

“There is such a beautiful energy from everybody. Everyone is so excited to be there. There is just a sense of promise and yearning because people are trying to go for (personal records) and break world records.

“… Just having that satisfaction that I was able to do this and I did not stop. I think it’s just absolutely addictive.”