Born in Copenhagen in Denmark, she later moved to Canada and represented her adoptive country internationally.

[3] She also came first in the women's mile run at the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships in 1984, and broke the National outdoor mile record with a (4:24.61) in Nice, France in 1986.

She was a gold medal favourite for the 1500 meters at the Commonwealth Games in 1986 with the fastest time in the Commonwealth heading into the Games but caught a virus that was going around the athletes' village and had to withdraw from the competition.

[8] McRoberts was a finalist at multiple global events, including the 1983 World Championships in Athletics, 1984 Summer Olympics, and the 1986 and 1990 Commonwealth Games.

[2] McRoberts graduated from Simon Fraser University with a degree in Kinesiology and Communications and later returned there becoming the head coach of the track and field programme under her married name, Brit Townsend.