Hillary Allen is an American professional ultrarunner and endurance athlete. She is sponsored by Brooks Running.[1]

Career edit

Allen began trail running while she was studying for her PhD in science, but shortly after started competing—and winning—races. She quickly went on to become an accomplished high-altitude trail runner.[2]

In 2017, Allen was ranked one of the top runners in the world when she suffered a near-fatal accident while competing in the Hamperroken Skyrace in Tromso, Norway.[3] The athlete fell 150 feet off a ridge, breaking both arms, two vertebrae, several ribs, and bones in her feet.[4] Allen, nicknamed "Hillygoat," endured a year of physical and mental recovery before returning to the sport to compete in the Broken Arrow Vertical Kilometer race in mid-2018.[5] She has acknowledged that there were times when death seemed easier than recovering.[6]

Two years after her accident, Allen returned to compete in the Hamperroken Skyrace and conquered the course that almost killed her.[7] In 2019, she gave a TedX talk about her recovery titled "You Can Challenge the Impossible."[8] One of Allen's goals is to inspire more women to get into trail running.[9]

Book edit

She is the author of Out and Back: A Runner's Story of Survival Against All Odds.[10]

References edit

  1. ^ "Hillary Allen | The North Face Endurance Running Athlete". www.thenorthface.com. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
  2. ^ "Hillary Allen". Jeremy Jensen. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  3. ^ "Going back to run the race that almost killed you". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
  4. ^ "After Near-Fatal Fall, Hillary Allen Finds Strength in Silver Linings". Trail Runner Magazine. 2017-09-13. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
  5. ^ Russell, Rhiannon (2018-06-21). "Running Was Her Life. Then She Suffered A Terrible Injury". Outside Online. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
  6. ^ McElwee, Molly (2020-04-25). "Hillary Allen: 'Some days post 150ft fall, death seemed the easier option... but I had to fight on'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
  7. ^ Andrew Dawson (2019-08-16). "Two Years Later, Hillary Allen Conquers Race That Nearly Killed Her". Runner's World. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  8. ^ Allen, Hillary, You can challenge the impossible, retrieved 2021-04-19
  9. ^ Allen, Hillary (2020-03-31). "Ultrarunner Hillary Allen Wants to See More Women in Trail Running". Runner's World. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
  10. ^ "Out and Back by Hillary Allen: 9781944515959 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 2020-12-16.