If you know anything about Carrie Tollefson, then you know that she lives out the motto that she says at the beginning of every show that she records.
She used the motto on the very first YouTube video that she posted on her YouTube channel 12 years ago, and she continues to use it on her podcast C Tolle Run. The motto consists of four words.
Let’s get after it.
Those four words defined her career as a professional runner, and her now career in the media as she continues to make her mark on the profession with kindness and grace.
In Front of the Camera
As a runner, Tollefson lit up the track and every running course that she graced. As a high school athlete, she totaled 13 state championships combined in track, as well as cross country. In college he helped Villanova win a national title in cross country, while also winning the individual championship in 1997. She also won three national championships on the track.
During her professional running career, she made the Olympic team in 2004, while winning national titles in the 3000 at the U.S. Indoor Championships in 2006, and the U.S. Cross Country Championships in that same year.
Needless to say, when it came to the sport, Tollefson lived out her motto that says on her show, and that it’s an important part of her life.
The love that Tollefson has for the sport is what led her to want to pursue her role as a broadcaster, commentator and on-field reporter.
“This sport has given my life so much joy,” she said. “It’s given me a lot of heartaches at times too, but I’ve always learned from that heartache. I definitely wanted to stay in the limelight a little bit and be on stage.”
She started her YouTube channel called C Tolle Run in 2010. Her early videos consisted of content that featured her interviewing athletes, doing highlight reels, sharing training tips and much more. She did that to get more reps to help her accomplish her goal of being on TV.
“That was my way of every week having my hard workout,” she said. “When I was a professional runner, I had two or three hard workouts. As a broadcaster, I wanted to have a day that I prepped for, I really worked hard at and then I recovered, analyzed and things like that.”
Since then, Tollefson has covered major events, such as the New York City Marathon, the Chicago Marathon, Allyson Felix’s final race, USATF championships, NCAA Championships and much more.
Being a race commentator and an on-field reporter is no easy task, and there’s a great deal of pressure to make sure things go according to plan. That pressure is no issue for Tollefson.
“I think I like that,” she said. “When the gun went off, I was in my element when I was racing. I loved just being on stage when I was younger, whether I was playing instruments or acting. I think I was just made to perform, and I love that.”
While Tollefson’s role is different now than when she competed professionally for Team USA, she still cares and empathizes for the athletes that she covers. She plays the role of a big sister in a sense, especially knowing what the athletes go through.
“I still think of myself as an athlete, when I really am not that athlete anymore, I am now more of a media personality,” she said. “It’s just ingrained in me to be the big sister, still the athlete and then the commentator or reporter.”
One of the things that she enjoys most in her role in front of the camera is getting the chance to celebrate the awesome achievements of the athletes she covers.
“I love to commentate and be the analyst, but I also just love to chat with people and hear what was going on in their mind, or how they can fix things the next time, or what they thought they did awesome,” she said. “Let’s brag a little bit here and there. Life is short, why not tell people that you were awesome on that day and whatever you do in life.”
Behind the Mic/ C Tolle Run
Tollefson has a weekly podcast called C Tolle Run, where she interviews different guests and shares their stories with the world.
She’s done that approximately 287 times up to date. That’s the amount of episodes that she’s recorded for the platform.
She’s one of the pioneers of track and field podcasting, and her goal for each episode is to provide a fun and safe space for guests to share their stories, while inviting the audience to feel like they’re friends with the guests that she interviews.
“That’s what I wanted my podcast to be like,” she said. “If you take us in your ears or if you were to watch YouTube, I want you to feel like you’re friends with these people too, and just have these open conversations. I think being an athlete and interviewing people about their athletic journey, I think that’s been a way for them to open up to me in a different way. You wanna have that natural conversation, and I think that people understood that with me. We will have fun on this show, it’s not hard-hitting news.”
Tollefson said that the success that she’s experienced has been more than she could’ve imagined. She compares her show to an old-school phone call, and she even has trouble reaching out for sponsorships because of how much she loves what she does.
“I really have loved it, it’s been really fun for me to get to know people,” she said. “I just want to hear about how people are getting after life. It doesn’t mean that you are running a world record, or making an Olympic team or winning the NCAA’s – any of that stuff. That’s really fun and it’s part of my passion because I loved doing that stuff, but I also just love to hear that people get up and that they do 20 minutes a day, three times a week, and that fills their cup.
That’s what I hope I can put out into the world, is just people that are excited about life. They might have some hard stuff that they hear on the podcast, but usually, they’re trying to figure it out, or they have gone through the journey and now they’re looking back at it thinking, ‘I’ve gotten through that time. So yeah I’ve loved it, it’s been really fun.”
Tollefson puts her motto of Let’s Get After It to work in a genuine sense, especially since she knows what she’s called to do in the platform that she’s been given.
“That is my role I feel like in life, is just to get the best out of people and hopefully get the best out of myself,” she said. “I just want to be kind. I want people to learn that their journey is important. Everyone has their story, everyone has their journey, and I think it’s really cool to hear about it.
I just want people to learn about people and learn from them.”
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lactic-acid-with-dominique-smith/id1591874732?i=1000575501467
