Lizzy Hawker

About

Lizzy Hawker is a British ultrarunner born March 10, 1976 in Upminster, London, and the holder of a record that may never be broken: five victories at the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (2005, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012), more than any other athlete — male or female — in the race's history. She arrived at the inaugural UTMB in 2005 having owned her first pair of trail running shoes for only ten days, and won. She completed her PhD in physical oceanography at Southampton University in the same year and had been working for the British Antarctic Survey studying climate change along the Antarctic coastline before trail running became her primary pursuit. She relocated to Switzerland in 2007. Her 2011 season was extraordinary: she won UTMB in 25:02:00, then set the women's 24-hour world record with 153.5 miles in Llandudno, Wales. In 2012 she completed a remarkable triple: UTMB, the 100-mile Run Rabbit Run in Colorado, and the 155-mile Spartathlon — finishing third overall and setting a new women's record on the ancient Athens-to-Sparta route. She holds the world record for running from Everest Base Camp to Kathmandu (199 miles) in 63 hours. She created the Ultra Tour Monte Rosa race (93 miles, inaugural 2015) and wrote the memoir Runner: A Short Story About a Long Run (2015). A vegetarian since the age of five, she is one of the sport's most revered figures.

Notable Wins

• — UTMB 2005 (inaugural)
• — 2008
• — 2010
• — 2011
• — 2012 (record 5 wins); Spartathlon 2012 (women's record
• — 3rd overall); Run Rabbit Run 100M 2012; women's 24-hour world record 2011 (153.5 miles); Everest Base Camp to Kathmandu world record

Race History