Clare Gallagher
Clare Gallagher (born 1991) is an ultrarunner who won the Leadville 100 and Western State 100 races. She is also an environmental advocate who lives in Boulder, Colorado.
Early life
Gallagher grew up in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado. She and her family often spent weekends in the mountains where she developed a connection to wild places. She attended Princeton University where she studied ocean health and was influenced by ethicist Peter Singer. At one point she planned to go to medical school. She graduated from college in 2014.[1][2]
Running career
Gallagher ran at Princeton but lost interest in running. She spent a couple of years in Thailand after college on a teaching fellowship. While there she signed up for and won an 80k race in October 2014 (she had never run more than a 10k previously) and found her running passion again. After her fellowship ended she settled in Boulder, Colorado and became active in the local trail running community.[3]
Running accomplishments:
2016: Dirty 30 50K, Black Hawk, Colorado: second
2016: US 30K Championships, Colorado Springs, Colorado: second
2016: Aspen Power of Four 25K: first
2016: Leadville 100: first (set the second-fastest women’s time in the history of the race at 19:00:27)
2017: Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc CCC: first (set a course record)
2017: The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile Championships: second
2019: Western States 100: first (set the second-fastest time at 17:23:25)[3][4]
Advocacy work
Gallagher is an advocate for issues such as climate change and the environment. She uses her running prominence as a means by which she can discuss issues that are important to her, though in a pragmatic way. She is an ambassador for Winter Wildlands Alliance and is involved with Protect Our Winters (POW). She ran the Western States race in 2019 just a couple of weeks after going on a 2-week mountaineering expedition in the Arctic National Wildlife Preserve to advocate for the Preserve.[4][1][5]
Gallagher won the Best of the Rockies—Advocate award from Elevation Outdoors Magazine in 2020 for her work as a Patagonia ambassador and POW athlete. The magazine noted that “she is a constant voice for climate action, social justice, and public lands.”[6]
References
- ^ a b Senseman, Eric (2018-01-18). "The Activist: Clare Gallagher And The Environment". iRunFar.com. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
- ^ "Champion Ultra Runner Clare Gallagher on Running, Reefs and Frosting". VisitMammoth.com. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
- ^ a b "Clare Gallagher, Leadville Champ, Runs on Hard Work, Smiles and Candy". Trail Runner Magazine. 2016-08-26. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
- ^ a b Mullen, Anya (2020-03-09). "Clare Gallagher - insights from the ultrarunner". Strength Running. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
- ^ "Boulder's Clare Gallagher wins prestigious Western States 100 run after spending 2 weeks in the Arctic". The Know. 2019-07-01. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
- ^ Brendza, Will (2020-03-03). "Best of the Rockies". Elevation Outdoors Magazine. Retrieved 2020-03-24.