Hillary Allen: How American skyrunner returned to the race that almost killed her

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By Ben Collins
BBC Sport
Tromso Skyrace is simply extreme. When describing the route in 2014, race director Kilian Jornet admitted:You might die.
It had been no exaggeration.
At the point of this 57km course comes the part: a steep shape coming the Hamperokken summit.
Throughout the 2017 race, American skyrunner Hillary Allen fell from that ridge. She had been in freefall for 50ft. Then she awakened another 100ft down the stonelike a rag doll before going to a stop.
Here is the story of how a girl from Colorado returned to conduct the race that killed her.
It was 5 August 2017. Allen was looking forward to afun workout with no stress. She remembers smiling, saying hello to new faces along the course and friends. One of those was a fellow rival named Manu Par, a Spaniard who resides in Tromso.
Allen became a professional skyrunner at 2015 and spent each summer racing in Europe. By 2017 she was one of the athletes on the Migu Run Skyrunner World Series and decided to create Tromso her last race before heading home, where she is also a science instructor.
Located in Norways far north, where mountains rise sharply from the coast, the Tromso race has a particular spot in skyrunning. This sports type moves from sea.
Its course takes runners across paths, through woods, across snow and boulder areas, and up into the regions most iconic summits – Tromsdalstinden (1,238m) and Hamperokken (1,404m) – for a whole elevation gain of 4,800m.
Allen handed Manu Par in the start of both Hamperokkens 3.5km ridge. She had been in her part, choosing on the perfect line across the terrain, making steady progress. Then disaster struck.
Par has been when Allen fell 10 metres. It had been a sheer vertical drop and he saw the mountain bounces farther down , screaming as bits of stone broke loose and fell with her. It seemed to last as long as 10 minutes.
The worst thing was the noise, says Par, 31. A body bouncing against the rock. It was just dreadful.
Instinct took over. By yanking down the stone to attain 15, par place his safety in danger. What he discovered was a pile. Her body was twisted, so her wrists were such as bags of bones, so there was a gash on her thigh so big that Par might have put his hands in.
I was convinced she was dead, he says. I didnt even think to look at her vitals.
However, after a couple of moments he realised that her belly moved. She was breathing. Adrenaline kicked in. Par is trained as a mountain guide and swiftly called on the first aid he knows.
Allen was in danger of falling he needed to move her, but since it was apparent she had a spinal column injury. She recovered Par and consciousness told her not to move, urging her to remain alert.
You can see she was struggling to remain alive, to do what I told her, he says. It was unbelievable. Just imagine being in this situation – many ordinary people would have given up.
Some race photographers also observed the collapse and called for help. A rescue helicopter arrived after around 25 minutes. Allen situation meant it took two weeks to hoist her safely.
Allen endured. Shed had hundreds of stitches, and 12 bones including two in arms and her rear. Over the subsequent two weeks she had five surgeries and had been told she would probably never operate.
But within a year she had been again competing in skyrunning. Soon after she decided that shed go back to Norway. She desired closure.
Allen cant recall what happened – if shes slipped, tripped, or even a stone broke away from underfoot. But she does recall falling.
Time slowed down, she states. I remember the impact of hitting the ground but I do not recall the pain of this. I remember my bones breaking up, the sound of its sensation.
I was thinking:That is it, you are likely to die. I remember relaxing, though it was a frightening instant, and thinking:Do your very best to stop your self, but only embrace it.
I handed out and once I came to I found Manu along with the other individuals rescuing me. I thought I was going to die when I watched their faces. Id never seen that look of dread before. Then the pain hit. It came in waves
It was so intense that it caused her to shout, before the pain relief occurred effect, and she had been airlifted to hospital. The Following Day, par and Allen seen.
There were numerous tubes and she was completely groggy in the anaesthetics, he states. I thought she was about to die until two weeks after.
It was just when Allen awakened the seriousness of her injuries dawned on her also.
I could not go, there were wires coming from me, stitches and cuts anywhere, she states. I thoughtoh my God, could I even function again? Never mind
She had broken several ribs and bones as well as breaking 2 vertebrae along with both arms. She endured a fracture and it had been what jeopardised her ability to operate again. It took even though the plates in her arms stay, screws that were later removed.
The time Allen posted following the accident media was – an Instagram video from her hospital bed in while listing her injuries, which, still drained from the pain relief, so she slurs her voice.
A week after back in Colorado, she published another video in.
I didnt look pretty, she cries now. When I see these back, I grimace. Because thats where I was 12, However, I do not care.
That was a pact I made early in my healing. I have mixed feelings about social media. I feel like lots of this time that its this big lie. You never see the actual battle, the raw emotions.
I wanted to be truthful about what happened. Originally it was about showing friends and family I was OK, but out there on I received support via social networking.
I continued to publish the good and bad moments, to record how incredibly hard the retrieval procedure was continued to be.
Allen returned home with only 1 limb whichtype of labored. Every small thing became a huge task – . She couldnt shower or go to the bathroom unsupervised.
Some days I didnt have the energy to get out of bed. Early I wanted the accident killed me since it could have been simpler.
Gradually, she found ways to cope. She laughs about the amount of people and even made a contraption to eat with.
So one of her patrons provided a bespoke scooter on which she can bear weight throughout her wrists she could not use crutches. Obviously, she broke off goingoff road in parks and along trails and needed to get it repaired at a bicycle shop.
She could walk again, within six she could run after 10 she entered her original skyrace because the injury – on 17 June 2018. The week after that she did the Cortina Course race that is 48km in northern Italy in the Dolomites – and then won it.
Of returning to Norway, the notion had been at the back of the brain. By 2019 she was planning to race the August again in Tromso.
During a routine training the arm broke. However she recovered to win the Cortina Course again in June. Tromso was back .
As I crossed the line at the Cortina Path I was like:OK, I have to return. It scares me, and it is difficult, but I want to return, says Allen. I felt ready to handle the fear
Par agreed with her to race. They had kept in contact but it was the very first time if Allen returned to Norway. Where Allen almost expired three days prior to the race, they went back up to the very spot and the ridge.
It was kind of weird, states Par. We had a very close relationship through what occurred but didnt really know each other. This was the very first time we ever talked correctly.
Allen wanted to know all aboutthat day. How she was discovered by Par what he saw. They hadnt ever talked about the accident in detail before – and they havent since.
Par states:It was like a run and treatment, it was just something we had to perform.
Allen adds:I knew the accident was awful but hearing it from Manus perspective was fairly extreme. For the remainder of the day I did not wish to be about anybody. I was considering whether to stay for the race because I didnt wish to return there. It made me realise how blessed I am to be living. This was cathartic.
Allen hadthe most fun because she and Par finished the race together, talking and laughing, even about the ridge.
There wasnt any doubt in my mind that I was going to finish, she states. It was a burden I had on me for a couple of decades. I feel free, free. I really dont hold a grudge from the mountain. I spent so long being fearful of that place but today I see it to its pure beauty.
A self-confessed science nerd, Allen was studying for a Masters degree in neuroscience and playing aggressive tennis but sought asimpler release. She attempted trail running in 2013 and alsothings simply clicked. She felt that it was exactly what she had been supposed to perform. After her fall, she didnt know if she would ever regain to be an elite athlete. But without it, who was ?
During her recovery she also spoke to some sports psychologist, who helped her create a sense of self love that didnt rely on competition. She feels the ordeal gave her opportunity to rediscover why she has left her a much better athlete and loves running – and a better man.
Shes discovered a new game (gravel riding), is attempting different types of running and training farther than she is run before. In August she came the most Traces des Ducs de Savoie, second in one of the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc races.
It has shown me what I am capable of from this new standpoint ofI really dont care if I win, she states.
It has given me more perspective, more depth. Ive got more freedom to discover what works just how far I can push myselfto find out more about myself and I would not trade that for anything.
People call me courageous. I dont necessarily think that. Yeah, Im stubborn. I enjoy finding a way through, discovering answers, facing my fears and doing things.
Hopefully thats what Im currently defined by – my personality and integrity. Life is tough and if I could help others face the challenges they face then surpasses anything I achieve in conducting.

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