Lindsay Carson

Several times a Cambridge Athlete of the Year nominee (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009), Lindsay Carson is one of Cambridge’s most celebrated distance runners. 

Running was an integral part of her family life, with her parents, John and Leslie Carson, both standouts in the sports of marathon and triathlon. Indeed, her mother Leslie is being inducted into the Cambridge Sports Hall of Fame in the same year as Lindsay, marking only the third time in the history of the CSHF that a parent and child have been inducted into the Hall, and only the second time they have been inducted in the same year (Don and Patti Rope, 1997). Patti Rope’s mother Benita was also inducted xx years later. The other mother-daughter inductees are gymnast Crystal Gilmore and her mother Brenda Gilmore, inducted in 2008 and 2016 respectively.  

As a youth, Lindsay was a member of the Cambridge Colts running club. During middle school at St Andrew’s Senior Public School, she was already showing her running potential competing against high school and university-aged runners in local cross-country races.

As a teenager, Lindsay was also a talented speed skater, competing at the provincial and national levels in both long-track and short-track speed skating with the Cambridge Speed Skating Club. She was coached by fellow CSHF 2023 inductees Ernie Overland and Marg Oliveira. 

While attending high school from 2004 to 2007 at Southwood Secondary School, Lindsay began making her mark in the provincial running circles, winning an outstanding seven OFSAA gold medals in cross-country and track and field championships.

Lindsay Carson was a talented runner and speed skater as a youngster. Photo by George Aitkin.

During Lindsay’s success at the high school provincial level, she rose to become one of Canada’s top junior distance athletes in the 800m, 1500m, 3000m, and cross-country. As a junior athlete, Lindsay became a 5-time Canadian National Team member representing Canada at the following world IAAF youth and junior championships: Morocco (2005 – 1500m),  Japan (2006 – cross-country), Brazil (2007 – 1500m), Kenya (2007 – cross-country), Scotland (2008 – cross-country). Her success as a junior athlete flourished under the guidance of her coach Peter Grinbergs at the Tri-City track club in Kitchener-Waterloo.  

Entering university, Lindsay was one of Canada’s top female distance running recruits among American and Canadian Schools. She decided to continue her collegiate running career in Canada, attending the University of Guelph from 2007 to 2009 and McMaster University from 2009 to 2013. In her rookie year, Lindsay won individual gold in the Canadian University National Championships for cross-country (CIS at the time, now referred to as U Sports) as well as rookie of the year (2007) and CIS Track and Field athlete of the year (2008). During her time at the University of Guelph and McMaster, Lindsay was a multiple CIS medalist and FISU national team member who went on to win three individual gold titles, two silvers medals, and one bronze in CIS championships in cross-country and track (1000m, 1500, 3000m). Also, as a varsity athlete, Lindsay represented Canada twice at the FISU World University Games in France (2008 – cross-country) and Kingston Ontario (2010 – cross-country).

Lindsay graduated from McMaster University with a degree in Chemical Engineering. She moved to Whitehorse Yukon in 2013 to work as an engineer while still pursuing athletics at the national and international levels. As a senior athlete, Lindsay became a 3-time Canadian National Team member representing Canada at the following world IAAF cross-country championships: Poland (2013), China (2015), Denmark (2019). In 2014, she also placed second in the Vancouver Sun run (road 10k), regarded as one of North America’s biggest road races attracting over 40,000 participants.  During Lindsay’s senior athletic career, she was coached by her father John Carson as well as U Sports coach of the year Mark Bomba. Lindsay currently resides in Whitehorse where she continues her endeavours as a competitive distance runner in road racing and trail running. 

During her junior and senior athletics career, Lindsay has represented Canada at six world cross-country championships and been a member of more than 10 national teams. As of 2023, she continues to represent her new home in the Yukon Territory at the national level in cross-country and trail running.