Out And Back, by Hillary Allen

Running Book Reviews with Alan and Liz

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Out and Back; A Runner’s Story of Survival Against All Odds is about Hillary Allen’s miraculous survival and recovery after she fell off a ridge in Tromso Norway during the 2017 Tromso Skyrace 57k. Hillary’s survival and recovery was not only due to her perseverance and desire to live, but also because she had the right help at exactly the right time. During the race there was another competitor, Manu, that was tracking Hillary less than 10 seconds behind her and he saw the fall. He immediately scrambled down to Hillary’s broken body and realized she was still alive. Manu has trained in mountain rescue, and he took immediate action to try and stop the bleeding while other people, who also witnessed the fall, called the race organization. Miraculously, Hillary survived, but it was a long road to recovery and she had to learn to accept help along the way; difficult for someone that has always been proud of her independence.
Hillary Allen grew up in Fort Collins Colorado, to an outdoorsy and scientific family, who have supported her in all her pursuits. She earned a masters degree in neuroscience physiology and structural biology at the university of Colorado in Denver. Hillary started out very passionate about tennis, until it led to an eating disorder. Soon after recovering from her eating disorder, she discovered trail running and this solidified her recovery because she quickly realized that she needs to eat to perform. Hillary taught part time while running professionally and was also a North Face athlete until 2022 when she joined Brooks.
If you would like to get a copy of the book then you can find it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/Out-Back-Runners-Survival-Against/dp/194451595X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2HVD6YWI8UQYU&keywords=out+and+back&qid=1675209053&sprefix=out+and+back%2Caps%2C104&sr=8-1
You can follow Hillary through her website: https://hillaryallen.com/about/
If you would like to watch the Ted Talk where Hillary talks about her accident and recovery, it can be found here: https://youtu.be/4wfY5A7YiMg

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