Allie Bailey is an ultrarunning coach, writer, presenter and ultrarunner. Since 2016 she has run almost 200 marathons and ultra-distance events and has a number of world firsts to her name including coast to coast crossings of Panama, Scotland and Dominica and a 100 mile run across the frozen Lake Khovsgol in Mongolia. She is the only woman to have run across the 138 mile Namib-Nukluft desert in Nambia twice, and was support crew on 2020’s Sport Relief event in the same desert. In 2019 Allie headed up the first and only all women team to run the entire length of the Outer Hebrides island chain and in 2022 she was named one of the top ten most inspiring female adventure runners in the UK by The Guardian.
A fierce advocate for mental health awareness and inclusivity, Allie is one of the most authentic voices in ultrarunning – her MO is to tell it like it is. “I am just a relatively normal person that goes running loads and likes and adventure” she says. “I spent so many years being completely lost and not knowing what I was really for, suffering from depression, anxiety and feeling completely hopeless. I spent years self-medicating with alcohol and had a number of pretty epic and at times life threatening mental health crises – even when I was running. The ultrarunning community is like no other – find the right crew and you will find your family. If I can inspire just one person to give this stuff a go my job is done. Everyone has this in them, I truly believe that. “
In June 2022 Allie will head up a small team running 1000 miles in just 35 days from Land End to John O’Groats. This world first route will take in some of the UK’s best known trails including the South West Coast Path, The Great Glen Way and The West Highland Way and form the blueprint for Run Britannia, a new race in the Rat Race catalogue of endurance events. In September 2022 she hopes to complete the Dragons Back race and is currently finishing her first book.