Caroline Alcorta, member of The Trail Team’s roster of young, up-and-coming elite trail runners, has had her best season of racing yet in 2025. Alcorta podiumed at every race she competed in this season—placing second in the highly competitive Black Canyon Ultras 50K, first at the McKenzie River Run 50K, second at the Tamalpa Headlands 50K, and first at the Mammoth Trail Fest 26K (fun fact: Alcorta was third overall in the McKenzie River Run 50K, only behind Team USA Mountain Runner Mario Mendoza and Joshua Park).
Alcorta, former collegiate runner for the University of North Carolina, (who holds several impressive personal bests including a 4:45:13 mile and 16:01:59 5K), admits that she is still very new to the world of trail running. Her college teammate Karley Rempel and Remplel’s partner (and now husband), Andy Wacker, multiple-time US Mountain Running Team veteran and founder of The Trail Team, introduced her to the sport, “I remember Andy talking about 50-kilometer races he was competing at in the mountains overseas and it was all so foreign at the time. I was so into the NCAA track world that I had no concepts of anything beyond that.”
Little did Alcorta know at the time, she would soon be joining Wacker in his appreciation for the world of running beyond track and cross country.
Community of casual crusher cows
After graduating college in 2019, Alcorta explored her new relationship with running apart from a high school or collegiate team. She competed in several road races and then suddenly in 2020 the world of racing shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But this unexpected break from racing was exactly what Alcorta needed to figure out her new relationship with running, “I could finally ask myself where I wanted to go with this sport after college. It actually gave me enough space to think outside of running and competing.”
Alcorta returned to school for a nursing program in Seattle, WA in 2022, where her running took off in a completely new direction. She joined the Cowgill Trail Collective, a group of fun, inclusive and adventurous trail runners based in Seattle who are known for dressing in cattle-themed attire. The herd convinced her to run a 50-kilometer race around Washington’s iconic volcano, Mount Saint Helens. “They told me to come out for the race and it would be super fun. I didn’t have a concept of the distance at the time and I got so cooked by the end of the race. That was the start of my trail running. It was super fun and brutal!”
Fun fact: The Cowgill runners may be centered primarily around fun and adventure, but the group also attracts highly competitive trail runners including Joe McConaughy and Lotti Brinks.
While Alcorta has been exposed to much talent in her NCAA days, she was completely impressed with the trail runners she’s encountered through Cowgill, “There are people around in the local trail running community who I call ‘casual crushers’ because they’re often out doing things on their own, running fast in local races, and setting FKTs.”
Alcorta says that she doesn’t know if she’s yet earned this title of casual crusher herself, but there’s no doubt that the trail runners in the Seattle area would hold Alcorta’s impressive and growing list of trail running accomplishments in high regard.
Playful competition
Similar to many collegiate athletes, Alcorta has a strong competitive drive. While this has allowed her to win races and push herself to new limits on the track and in cross country, Alcorta has adopted a new attitude towards competing when it comes to trail races. Alcorta describes the difference in her attitudes from collegiate racing to her current trail racing, “In track racing, it’s much more cut and dry what you need to do. I’m often thinking about my placement, comparing where I stack up in the rankings, etc. Now my perspective is not about beating other people, it’s more about what I can get out of myself on race day. It’s become much more playful. My competitive side has changed more into working with others.”
Alcorta also compares the experience of community and camaraderie between her days on a college team to now as a part of a trail collective group. “I feel more a part of a community than a team nowadays. In high school and college we were often working towards a common goal. We would raise each other’s levels so everyone could do their best, holding each other accountable and supporting a culture of showing up to practice everyday. Now, it’s a bit more about individual goals, while still being connected to all of those around us.”
Black Canyon breakdown
In February 2025, Alcorta finished runner-up to Allison Baca, at the highly competitive Black Canyon Ultras. In spite of Alcorta’s successful trail running career in the past several years, she was still unsure of how she would stack against some of the best runners in the country at the 50K distance.
After a successful USATF cross country season in the fall of 2024, Alcorta found surprising strength going into the Black Canyon Ultras. “I didn’t really have any business entering that race and I didn’t feel like I had any sort of concept of what I was doing. I had only done one race at this distance before, and even then I had a lot of self doubt about completing it.”
Throughout the race Alcorta pushed away negative thoughts and described the mental battle that goes along with running an ultramarathon, “I had doubts at certain times during the race that I could even finish, but I learned a lot about myself by pushing through. During the mental back and forth, I knew the dialog I was having with myself really mattered. I focused on being super present and dialing into what was going on in my body and around me.”
While top runners in the field aggressively pushed the pace at the beginning of the race, Alcorta told herself to stay calm and run her own race, “I knew lots of people were going out hot and I’d felt frantic energy at the beginning of races before. It felt too early to be making huge moves, so I told myself to hold back. It was a weird combination of confidence and also being humble in the fact that I knew I still had lots to learn about myself and this sport.”
2025 reflections and beyond
After a successful season of racing in 2025 coming to a close, Alcorta reflects on her season and her goals moving forward, “This year has been so much fun. I’m already thinking about returning to Black Canyon, and also eying UTMB and Golden Trail Series races. Running overseas would be pretty cool.”
While some professional runners with international racing careers manage to live off of their sports-related income alone, Alcorta works as a full-time nurse. However, she explains how her schedule is largely conducive to long-training days and time for extended race vacations, “I currently work four days a week, and I can arrange my schedule to have long days followed by four or five days off to travel for races.” She admits that the working and training balance can still be tough, “It can be a tight turnaround sometimes. I came off of a twelve hour shift, hopped on a plane and raced the next day. That’s not totally ideal, but generally speaking I feel like I’ve got enough wiggle room to make this work.”
Alcorta on the trails at Wy’East.
Wy’East why not?
Alcorta’s trail running career took another turn in 2024, when she reconnected with her trail running friend Andy Wacker. He inspired her to sign up for her first Golden Trail Series competition—the Wy’East Trail Fest. This series has been recognized as one of the most internationally competitive short distance trail running series in the world. Top competitors in the series have gained sponsorships, competed internationally and made names for themselves in the sport. Alcorta was inspired to test herself at this event. She signed up for the race and simultaneously submitted an application for The Trail Team, which could provide her with additional resources and knowledge she’d need to take her trail running career to the next level. “I could see myself wanting to move forward in the sport. I really wanted to have trail running be a larger part of my life, find out more about it, and go after some goals.”
Alcorta placed second to 2024 Golden Trail Series North American Champion Jade Belzberg , and was also accepted as one of eight athletes on the The Trail Team elite roster in 2025.
At The Trail Team camp.
The Trail Team takeaways
2025 has been Alcorta’s most successful trail running season to date, which she credits largely to her growing experience in the sport and learnings from The Team Team. Alcorta shares what it’s been like to be a part of the team, “It’s been an awesome experience. There’s so much to learn about in trail running and it can be a bit overwhelming to come into all at once. Knowing people to look to and ask can be so helpful to navigate the sport.”
Alcorta also attended The Trail Team training camp in Granby Lake, CO, where she recalls learning many valuable skills and connecting with teammates personally, “The resources from the camp were so valuable and it was so cool to connect with other people on the team. Everybody’s got their own goals and it’s fun to see what others are excited about. There’s people who specialize in Vertical Kilometer races, technical Skyrunning, etc. There are people who are super young, coming into the team straight out of college and folks who have been trail running for a long time. The community is so cool because of all of the different perspectives.”
PROTIP: Read our sneak peak into The Trail Team Camp here.
Follow Alcorta’s running journey on her Instagram here.
Caroline Alcorta
