Carolyn Smith

Carolyn Smith, MD, is a family practice and sports medicine physician who serves as director of the student health service at Marquette University and head medical team physician for the department of intercollegiate athletics. She also maintains her teaching interests in her role as medical director for the athletic training education program.

After a postcollegiate career running shorter distances, Smith embraced ultrarunning in 2002 and has enjoyed success in distances ranging from the 50-mile run to the 24-hour run. She is a former 24-hour and 100K national champion. She has had the privilege of representing the United States on two 24-hour national teams (2005, 2007) and is a six-time 100K national team member (2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011).

As a runner, she is a national age-group record holder and a member of the 100-kilometer national ultramarathon team. In 2009, she held the fastest time in the world for the 50-mile ultramarathon and was ranked No. 1 in that event in the United States. She represented the United States for the sixth time in the 100-Kilometer World Cup, which was held in the Netherlands in 2011. In 2011 she set a national age-group record for the 12-hour run, finishing first among all participants in the FANS 12-hour ultramarathon in Minnesota, running 83 miles in 12 hours - more than 12 miles ahead of the second place finisher.

In addition to a medical degree from the University of Illinois, Smith holds a master’s degree from Northern Illinois University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin, both in exercise physiology. Following a faculty position with the St. Michael Hospital Residency Program in Milwaukee, and the Medical College of Wisconsin, Smith joined the Marquette University student health service in 2002.