Caroline Cole

Caroline Cole recently qualified for the Olympic Marathon Trials with a time of 2:36:06 at Grandma's Marathon which is impressive by anyone's standards! We sat down with Caroline to ask her about her training, what keeps her motivated and the reasons she runs.

Meet Caroline Cole:

How and when did you start running?

"In middle school I was playing basketball and was a point guard. I was always the speedy one, hustling for the balls. Around that time, my dad began training for marathons and half marathons and I remember being very curious. One day he said, 'Caroline, I think we should do a half marathon together', and I thought if Dad sees something in me, maybe I should go for it. So we started to train for the Music City Half and that's when I realized there must be something in the genes; I enjoy just putting miles in. Senior year I had to decide between cross country or to remain with basketball and I chose running. I had a mindshift with running and began to really enjoy just going and doing mileage; I enjoyed the purity of it."

You've been running for years now, what motivates you to keep getting out the door? 

"I've gone through injury and back and I've discovered how much it is an outlet and a gift to run. So I feel so blessed that when I'm healthy and things are lined up and I feel really fit, those are the runs I hold onto and it's such a blessing to be able to go outside and run."

Is there a group or people that you run with regularly?

"Yeah, there's a few guys that I've connected with in the area, but honestly there's a lot of girls that I used to coach who come back in the summertime and we connect when they come back for the summer."

You run about 85 miles a week, where is your favorite place to run in Nashville?

"My favorite place would have to be Edwin Warner park. I live super close to the greenway and I can't not go there everyday. There's so much to explore there; if you want the hills, there's hills, if you want flat and shady you can get that. I go back and forth between the trails and the greenway and will also do the 11.2. I hit it all."

What would you say is the reason you run?

"I run for my mental health. I run to escape things. I run to feel motivated about life. I'm a coach and a trainer and that's where I get a lot of my ideas. I believe that it's a gift from God that I get to run. I lost my dad three years ago so I feel like I'm the closest to him when I get to run. That was kind of our thing - our bonding moment - so I feel like there is still something beautiful in it.  That's why this year has been very emotional with all these beautiful highs. I would have loved to seen him and what he would have thought of this process. I know he's so proud."

Tell us a little about your running accomplishments because you are a unicorn - not very many people run marathons and even less qualify for the Olympic Trials in the marathon!

"I was on a scholarship to Trevecca and that's when things escalated; I got faster and better - with a few injuries here and there - but that's when I knew this was a passion and I wanted to see where it went after college. Two years after college, I ran a half marathon that did not go well and decided I was ready to let running go to focus on work when a friend asked me, 'Caroline, why don't you try to focus on running for a year and see what happens?'  I trained for Grandma's Half Marathon and ran 1:14:36 and a friend who ran with me encouraged me to continue to focus on training as the qualifying window for the Olympic Trials was coming up.

"I'm a driven human being and having a full calendar of clear goals really helped and we started just checking things off.  My first marathon attempt was CIM in 2022 and it did not go well. I had to drop out at mile 19 with a lot of GI distress and again, I started to think this wasn't for me. But I met with a nutritionist and started trying some new gels and products and things started to click again and we decided to go for Houston. I ran a 2:39:40 which was so close to the trials time but I wasn't disappointed. I honestly walked away from that one more proud because I knew I could do this marathon thing and if I could just dial in a little bit more with the nutrition and getting my extra gels it should click. We set our eyes to Grandma's Marathon in June and decided to swing at it again. And that's when I ran 2:36:06. We did it!"

What's next?

"I'm planning to run the Indy Half as a little tune up and then the build for the Olympic Trials will begin!" 

We're thrilled to have Caroline as one of our Fleet Feet Ambassadors and you can see what her favorite Fleet Feet finds are and follow her journey to the Olympic Trials in February, at @carolinehamcole on Instagram.