Balancing the demands of medical school and competitive cycling is no easy feat, but Red Truck Racing’s Owen Harris has found a way to make it work.
Owen recently completed his first year of medical school at UBC, where his schedule includes lectures, labs, clinical skills sessions, and family medicine practice visits. With a fast-paced spiral curriculum, there’s always something new to focus on each week. He describes the experience as engaging and constantly changing, noting that “we’re learning a new topic every week, which keeps things exciting,” whether it’s hematology one week or endocrinology the next.
hen he began medical school, Owen wasn’t sure how racing would fit into his life alongside such a demanding program. “I was initially hesitant to keep racing during medical school as I wasn’t sure that I would have the time to train, let alone travel to races,” he says. With support from Red Truck Racing, he’s been able to focus on a more local race calendar while continuing to stay involved in the sport. He adds that the decision to keep racing felt important personally, as he still feels he has “unfinished business in cycling,” and would have regretted stepping away completely.
Cycling has also helped provide balance during an intense academic year. As Owen puts it, “it helps remind me that my life is more than just studying,” and serves as an important outlet for both physical and mental wellbeing. Like many student-athletes, he’s learned to be efficient with his time—using bike commutes as training and making small pockets of time count whenever possible.
Owen now looks ahead to a busy summer of racing with the team at events like Gastown Grand Prix, Shim’s Ride, and the Everett Performance Omnium, alongside his work as a research assistant in a physiology lab at St. Paul’s Hospital before returning to classes in August.
Red Truck Racing is proud to support student-athletes like Owen, helping riders pursue both high-performance sport and academic paths.