Charlotte Imer unravels the sweet science of running long distances at Temple

Cross country at Temple is more than just running a few miles per day, hoping that it’ll be enough training to perform well at meets. Thanks to Charlotte Imer, it’s quality over quantity and a focus on health and sports science that optimizes the talent and potential of runners.

Imer was hired as an assistant cross-country coach at Temple in July after previously serving as an assistant on Catholic University’s staff. Prior to that, she was a graduate assistant at Tennessee Tech as she earned her master’s degree in sport management. She also taught physical education and exercise science classes to students. Now, she uses that to formulate plans for success for her athletes.

“We tapped into a little bit of exercise physiology stuff in my degree,” Imer said, “so having an understanding of what’s going on with a runner’s body and recovery.”

The Melbourne, Australia, native takes her scientific approach to things further than most programs. She puts her runners through intensive heart rate training that is at the core of what she does.

The runners wear heart rate monitors so Imer can see how each of their hearts responds to different distances and speeds of running. She also uses the monitors to tell when the runners need breaks and how much training they need to be able to run for longer periods of time.

Imer is a former runner herself. She had an accomplished career at Tennessee Tech’s conference rival, Eastern Kentucky and earned All-American honors in 2016. Her 31st-place finish in the NCAA Championships was the highest ever by an EKU woman and the second-highest ever by a runner from the Ohio Valley Conference. Imer was also a two-time NCAA All-Region selection, two-time first-team All-OVC selection, and two-time OVC Runner of the Year.

“She’s very supportive and she’s strict in a good way,” said Temple freshman Elvira Bredin. “She always helps me make up a good plan for the meets… She was a very good runner, so I think she uses a lot from her own experiences.”

At Temple, Imer is dedicated to mapping out the best plans for success without burning out her athletes. In 2022, it led to junior Laura Nicholson earning an All-American Athletic Conference distinction for the first time in her career.

“Last year, it seemed like they were training more for quantity than quality,” said Temple trainer Casey Cooper. “It led to more work on my end. They had a very high workload last year across the board.”

This year though, Cooper said he notices that the runners are noticeably more refreshed right now than they were at this time last year. He found it remarkable considering Imer came to Temple in July and had to work with players that she didn’t have a hand in recruiting. Still, she was able to carve out a different strategy for each runner before every meet in an effort to get the best performances possible.

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Imer will tell you she has to see how much stress her runners can handle. She uses her training assignments as ways to simulate the stress of meets. However, she acknowledges that it isn’t truly enough. Her runners have to deal with finances, classes, and personal relationships — things that cannot be simulated.

Less than a decade removed from her time as a college runner, Imer’s memories of the experience are still fresh in her mind. She understands that athletes have more stress.

However, stress is also part of her game plan.