Robin Roth ’22 lines up alongside the 300 runners behind the start line as she awaits the gunshot for the race to begin. She is calm and is ready to attack all the hills on today’s course. “Ready, set” Bam! The gun goes off and Roth strides into the distance.

Roth first fell in love with running through the Princeton Girls on the Run program in the third grade. She then joined her first cross-country team in 6th grade. What first started out as a hobby became more serious her freshman year when she joined the high school cross country and track teams.

“She came in and just put her head down and ran fast. And [over time] she’s learned to contribute more than just running faster to the team. She’s grown into being a realist about what success means,” said Head Cross Country Coach James Smirk. “That you want to [run] to the absolute best of your ability, but it doesn't always mean that you win.”

In addition to changing her outlook on success, over the years on the cross country team, Roth has grown as a runner and as a leader.

“She’s stronger now than she has ever been and understands [the] race tactics better than she ever has. But more than anything, she's grown tremendously as a leader [by] understanding how to work with people and how to get people to understand what we’re trying to do as a group,” Smirk said.

Roth’s favorite part of cross country is that she gets to come to practice everyday and converse with her teammates during and after workouts. The cross country team is a very close-knit community, so many of her best friends are also runners on the team.

“A lot of [my social life] overlaps with [running]. If I'm having some problems with school I can always go to the coaches, and they always help me get my life back together. The team is like my support system and part of my social life is bonding with the team,” Roth said.

In addition to running with a supportive community, Roth loves the feeling of running itself.

“Running downhill on a hard race course feels like you're flying, it’s honestly the best feeling,” Roth said.

Being a successful runner does not come without obstacles. Roth has been dealing with a knee injury for the past few months, and also had COVID-19 recently. Due to her injury and the team’s health guidelines, Roth was not able to train as she normally would. It was difficult adjusting back to the volume of her training, but her teammates supported her and helped her make a full recovery.

“I see Robin putting in so much effort to recover from any setbacks she faces during the season, regardless of whether they are personal or team-based,” said teammate Lucy Kreipke ’23.

Ever since Roth began running seriously, she aspired to commit to run for a university. Her dream came true when Rutgers University reached out to her early on in the recruitment process. Roth will be continuing her athletic career on their Division I cross country and track team.

“On one of my official visits, I got to meet the team. They were all so nice and welcoming. The coaches are amazing, so I'm really excited,” Roth said.

With years of running experience behind her, Roth wants young runners to know that they should focus on their own improvement when they are starting out.

“Sometimes you have to take a step back to take two steps forward. You don’t need to be the sun the first time you run, you can be a star that still is a part of the solar system,” Roth said.