Hillary Allen

Hillary Allen is an American professional ultrarunner and endurance athlete. She was previously sponsored by The North Face[1] and is currently sponsored by Brooks Running.[2]

Career

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.[3]

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 Tromsø, Norway.[4] The athlete fell 150 feet off a ridge, breaking both arms, two vertebrae, several ribs, and bones in her feet.[5] 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.[6] She has acknowledged that there were times when death seemed easier than recovering.[7]

Two years after her accident, Allen returned to compete in the Hamperroken Skyrace and conquered the course that almost killed her.[8] In 2019, she gave a TedX talk about her recovery titled "You Can Challenge the Impossible."[9] One of Allen's goals is to inspire more women to get into trail running.[10]

Allen is a multi-sport athlete, adding Gravel racing to her portfolio starting in 2019 at Unbound Gravel and the Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder.[11][12]

Allen qualified for Team USA for the 2025 World Mountain Running Championships Uphill Race at the 2025 Broken Arrow Ascent.[13]

Book

She is the author of Out and Back: A Runner's Story of Survival Against All Odds.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Hillary Allen | The North Face Endurance Running Athlete". www.thenorthface.com. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
  2. ^ "Brooks Trail Runners | Brooks Running". www.brooksrunning.com. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
  3. ^ "Hillary Allen". Jeremy Jensen. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  4. ^ "Going back to run the race that almost killed you". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
  5. ^ "After Near-Fatal Fall, Hillary Allen Finds Strength in Silver Linings". Trail Runner Magazine. 2017-09-13. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
  6. ^ Russell, Rhiannon (2018-06-21). "Running Was Her Life. Then She Suffered A Terrible Injury". Outside Online. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ Andrew Dawson (2019-08-16). "Two Years Later, Hillary Allen Conquers Race That Nearly Killed Her". Runner's World. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  9. ^ Allen, Hillary, You can challenge the impossible, retrieved 2021-04-19
  10. ^ Allen, Hillary (2020-03-31). "Ultrarunner Hillary Allen Wants to See More Women in Trail Running". Runner's World. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
  11. ^ "Hillary Allen's Race History at gravel-results.com". www.gravel-results.com. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
  12. ^ Dehnke, Andrea (2019-05-11). "Hillary Allen is Starting from Scratch". Women's Running. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
  13. ^ Mock, Justin (2025-06-20). "2025 Broken Arrow Ascent Results: Christian Allen and Anna Gibson Win Shortened Race". iRunFar. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
  14. ^ "Out and Back by Hillary Allen: 9781944515959 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 2020-12-16.