In the finale of this season’s The White Lotus, Laurie, played by actress Carrie Coon, makes a real run for it. (Want to avoid a spoiler? Don’t click on that link.) It’s almost as if she’s run before.
As it happens, Coon has run before – most notably, when she was studying at the University of Mount Union, situated in the US state of Ohio. Last week, we discovered that the 44-year-old star clocked a time of 59.36 seconds in the 400m at the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Championships in 2000, which was good enough to secure her second place.
Coon, a 2003 graduate of the Division III school in Alliance, Ohio, told the university that playing football (which, yes, she did as well) and ‘running track gave me a strong sense of community right from our first training week and also helped me to manage my time more efficiently.
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‘I also can’t believe that I was able to participate in plays in addition to sports,’ continues Coon, who relished the chance to run and play football while still maintaining her studies and acting pursuits. ‘I don’t think that this would have been possible at a Division I or II school.’
However, according to The Alliance Review, she stopped competing for the track team after her second year at Mount Union to focus on her theatrical endeavours.
Back to the latest season of The White Lotus and Coon’s character, Laurie, is on holiday at the notorious White Lotus hotel in Thailand with two of her childhood friends, Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) and Kate (Leslie Bibb). Then, during the climax of that final episode, Laurie has her runaway moment, showing off that patented speed. About 25 years on from her sub-minute 400m performance at the OAC Championships, she’s still got it.
Another guest at the hotel – a typical finance bro, who immediately asks hotel staff for a blender for his protein shakes – is Saxon Ratliff, played by Patrick Schwarzenegger (yes, Arnold’s son). Schwarzenegger recently partnered with Brooks to help promote the brand’s ultra-cushioned Glycerin Max running shoe.
Now, we’d like to know Coon’s favourite running shoe, too – it seems as though she likes an Adidas jacket.
