It’s track Head Coach Charles Alexander’s eighth-grade year, and he’s facing a decision that will change his life: Football or cross country? Playing one of the two sports was required at his K-12 school in Richmond, Virginia. Little did he know selecting cross country would lead to a national championship.
Alexander’s eighth-grade and freshman years focused on building up mileage. Attending a very small private school meant the team didn’t get much experience with big invitationals, so they created their own states meet. By his junior year, he was top 10 in his region.
Alexander experienced a breakout season in his senior year, going 17–0 in his final high school cross-country season. He won all local dual meets, league meets, and his private school’s state meet by almost 90 seconds, making him one of the favorites going into the 1981 Kinney Nationals.
“I won all the Saturday invitationals I attended that year, so I thought I was pretty good,” Alexander said. “But there was no internet, so I didn’t know how good the rest of the country was and the rest of my region, but I knew I was one of the four favorites going into the national championships in Florida.”
Going into the race, Alexander knew to stick with the leading pack, and watched other runners slowly fall off. In a final kick, he out-sprinted Californian Harold Kuphald to become a national champion in 14:51 for the 5-kilometer.
“That was my golden ticket to college, and all I could think was ‘Oh wow,’” Alexander said. “I had a college coach visit my house the next day.”
Alexander followed up that race by competing in the United States U20 trials in Idaho, where he was selected as the second alternate for the world cross country team — just missing the opportunity to compete at Worlds in Italy. He finished his high school career with a successful track season, ranking sixth at the International Prep Invitational in Chicago.
Ultimately, Alexander narrowed his recruiting to four colleges: Princeton, Dartmouth, the University of Virginia, and Stanford. In the end, the appeal of California life ultimately led him to continue his running career at Stanford.
“Going into my freshman year as a national champion, I thought nothing would change,” Alexander said. “But our region was very good, and I got 60th place. That’s when I learned that it would be a very big transition.”
Alexander competed at Stanford for five years, having to take off his junior year after knee surgery. However, he didn’t let that hold him back, shifting his mindset from focusing on mileage to gaining speed, working to become a smart racer. He finished fourth in the 10,000-meters in the Pac-10 Conference Championships.
“In high school, I was confident before races, knowing I had put in more work than anybody else,” Alexander said. “But in college, it was hard losing to people working less hard, so that kind of ruined my confidence, but I managed to rebound in my fifth year.”
However, his running journey didn’t stop after graduation, as Alexander went on to qualify for the Olympic Trials in the marathon. But with 139 athletes and just 3 spots, he didn’t qualify for the Olympic Team.
The next chapter of his running career brought him to Los Altos High School as the assistant cross country coach in 2007, balancing it with his full-time engineering career.
“I started coaching because of my high school coach and what he did for me,” Alexander said. “I thought I could do that for other people and give back to the sport I enjoy.”
Over his coaching career — including taking over as track head coach this spring — he helped produce CCS and state-winning squads, a national-qualifying girls team, and top-level individuals.
“Running is all about life lessons because, at the end of the day, we’re just running in circles,” Alexander said. “I love seeing kids put the work in and get the results, even if it’s delayed gratification, but it’s a sport where it’s all about how hard you want to push yourself.”
