HHe placed second at the state level in high school and competed in the NCAA regional championships in college, but Charles Jackson’s desire to run and compete didn’t end there.

The Molo Middle School physical education teacher has built quite a successful career in athletics since earning his Bachelor of Science and Masters in exercise physiology from McNeese State more than a decade ago.

“I just felt like I wanted to do a little more on the track, so I just kept running,” Jackson said.

He has won five national championships in recent years at the USA Track and Field Masters Outdoor Championships. He says he has always had a desire to win a medal on the world stage. He will get that chance next week at the World Masters Athletics Stadia Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden. He will compete in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. The competition begins Tuesday and runs through August 25.

“Anyone can compete, but winning a medal is a whole different thing,” Jackson said. “So I thought, ‘I believe I can win a medal.’ And in the 100-meter dash, I definitely believe I can win gold. I wanted to compete in that outdoor world championship. I want to experience that and also the indoor world championship. That’s in the United States in March (2025).”

After college, Jackson competed in the USA Track and Field Indoor National Championships from 2016 to 2020 and the Outdoor National Championships in 2019, then moved on to the USA Track and Field Masters, which has age groups in five-year increments from 25 to 105. Athletes must be at least 35 years old to compete in the World Masters Stadia Championship.

He won three consecutive USATF championships in the 100 meters in the 30-34 class from 2021 to 2023 and two consecutive titles in the 200 meters in 2021 and 2022 before a second-place finish last year ended his winning streak in the event. His previous best times in the 100 meters are 10.26 and 22.07 in the 200 meters in 2017.

Last year, he ran the 100m in 10.74 and the 200m in 22.12 at the North Carolina A&T University national championships, but suffered a torn meniscus in January. He was told that surgery might not completely heal the meniscus or that he would not be able to go to Sweden because of the recovery time.

“This season has been tough,” Jackson said. “I’m just glad I’m even able to go.”

It wasn’t until May that he felt well enough to start training again, he says.

“I thought I was done. I really thought I was, because by January I was out,” Jackson said. “You know, I just kept the faith. I just kept doing rehab to strengthen everything else, to strengthen the rest of my body. But then May came and I was able to train well enough to build my confidence. Like, ‘OK, now I can do something with this.'”

Although he’s not quite up to his results from last season, Jackson said he recently ran the 100m in 10.8 and the 200m in 21.8.

Jackson, who finished second in the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Class 2A 100-meter dash in 2006, was not recruited for college track and field after high school. His favorite sport at the time was powerlifting.

At Northwestern State, he tried football, choir, and started a powerlifting club, but failed to land a scholarship. He transferred to McNeese as a walk-on, eventually earned a scholarship, and still ranks in the top 10 in school history in the 100-meter dash (10.34).

He has been married for 16 years and has two children, one in elementary school and one in middle school, but he has managed to stay in shape.

“It’s just the love of the sport and something I can do to stay healthy,” Jackson said. “It keeps me healthy. It motivates me to stay healthy.”

The outdoor and indoor world championships could be his last and he is thinking about taking a step back.

“I’ll keep doing things to stay in shape, but mainly just these two world championships,” Jackson said. “After that, I’ll probably calm down.”