Alex Carlson doesn’t like to wait…for anything.

The elite cross-country, middle distance indoor and outdoor track runner beginning her junior year at Rutgers did not defer to her elders in her first two years on campus. She took first place in the 3,000m at the Big Ten indoor track championship as a sophomore.

While her interest in climate change is relatively new, Carlson knows we cannot wait when it comes to taking real climate action. That is why the Allentown, New Jersey native moved quickly to become an EcoAthletes Champion. 

“Former Rutgers steeplechaser and current EcoAthletes Champion Lou Mialhe inspired me to learn more about climate change,” Carlson reflected. “The more I learned, the more alarmed I got. I said to myself, ‘you have a growing platform, it’s time to use it to inspire people to change behavior in positive ways’. So that’s why I’m excited to start my EcoAthletes Champions race.”

Carlson’s track career started in sixth grade after an earlier stint in soccer.

“I loved soccer all the way through middle school, playing forward and midfield,” she offered. “What I really loved was the running. I was always fast — I would always be the first girl to finish the running tests. My sixth-grade gym teacher told me I should try track and field so I joined the Hunterdon Lions, running sprints and the 400m. I did well but my sprints coach saw a distance runner in me. So, in seventh and eighth grades I switched over to the longer races, the 800m and 1,600m. I just really took to it. Then, when I got to high school, I chose cross country over soccer in the fall and that was it. I was a runner!”

She hit the ground running, making the varsity as a freshman at North Hunterdon high school, and never stopped. Carlson played a key role in her team winning the New Jersey cross-country Meet of Champions her first three seasons (the meet did not take place her senior year due to COVID). On the track, she qualified for the Meet of Champions in the 800 and 1600 where she finished third as a senior. The pièce de resistance for Carlson was when she and her squad earned the #1 team designation at the prestigious Nike Cross Regionals, an event that draws the best high school talent in the country.

When it came time to choose where she would run in college, Carlson didn’t look far.

“We used to go to Rutgers football games when I was a kid, so RU was always where I wanted to go,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if I was Division I material — I still struggle with not belonging in my head — but the coaching staff and team welcomed me from the beginning, and I was ready to go.”

‘Ready to go’ was certainly an understatement.

Carlson started strong at Rutgers in her freshman cross-country season the fall of 2021, earning the #1 spot among Scarlet Knights harriers most of the time. She transitioned smoothly into her first indoor track season in the winter, becoming a versatile asset for the team, running the 800, mile, 3K and the distance medley relay[1]. Her ‘do it all’ abilities helped RU earn a surprising 5th place in the competitive Big Ten. She followed that up with a solid spring 2022 outdoor track campaign, finishing her first college season by qualifying for the NCAA First Round meet in the 1,500m.

Expectations were high for Carlson going into the 2022-23 season and she did not disappoint. She shaved a minute from her cross-country time, which was a massive jump. And that was only a prelude to her winter on the indoor banked track.

“I had a strong indoor season and was in good form as we approached the Big Ten Championships,” she recalled. “I came in second in the mile — the woman who came in first ended up winning the national championship — but I strained my calf muscle. Still, I was determined to run the 3K and so we taped it up and I gave it a go. Well, I took the lead from the start and was waiting for someone to push me. No one did until the last half lap and I was able to hold on for the win! It was an incredible feeling!”

The calf strain — a notoriously slow injury to heal — impacted outdoor season. She qualified for the NCAA national meet, but her leg did not allow her to compete at a top level. Now fully healed, Carlson is looking forward to her junior season and beyond: “Our coaches and training staff have geared my training schedule this summer to get me ready for the cross-country season, which starts in September.”

Also this fall, the management and leadership major will look to spread the #ClimateComeback message with three fellow Rutgers EcoAthletes Champions, swimmers Halé Oal and Natalie Schick, along with lacrosse player Kelsey Klein, as part of the EcoAthletes’ first Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL[2]) initiative, which was announced this spring, via public speaking engagements and through messaging to her growing social media following.

“If the extent and costs of the climate crisis wasn’t clear to people before, this summer’s record heat and devastating extreme weather should remove any lingering doubt,” Carlson stated. “As a middle-distance runner, I know that you need to work hard and intelligently, and then you need to fight through doubt and frustration to have a chance to win. These same qualities apply to a much more important race — the climate action race. I’m excited to work with my fellow EcoAthletes Champions at Rutgers and beyond to do what I can to give us a chance to win.”

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[1] Carlson ran the anchor 1,600-meter leg in a race that also has 1,200-, 400-, and 800-meter legs.

[2] The two-year old NIL law allows NCAA student-athletes to get paid for the use of their name, image, and likeness. The deal entered into between EcoAthletes, the four Rutgers student-athletes named above plus the now graduated gymnast Kaitlyn Bertola, and Knights of the Raritan, a collective that helps fund and empower Scarlet Knights student-athletes to ‘achieve their greatest potential, on the field, and in life’, provides the RU EcoAthletes Champions with funding to support their public outreach (podcasts, blogs, and public speaking) in support of greening the games we play and enjoy.

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