Lizzy Hawker

{{short description|British endurance athlete (born 1976)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox sportsperson | honorific_prefix = | name = Elizabeth Hawker | honorific_suffix = | image = Lizzy Hawker (2012).png | image_size = 200 | alt = | caption = | headercolor = | textcolor =  | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = | fullname = | nickname = | nationality = British | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1976|03|10|df=y}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/great-britain-ni/elizabeth-hawker-225083|title=Athlete profile for Elizabeth Hawker - iaaf.org|work=iaaf.org}}</ref> | birth_place = | death_date =  | death_place = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | monuments = | alma_mater = | occupation = | years_active = 2005–present | employer = | agent = | height =  | weight =  | spouse = | life_partner = | other_interests = | website = {{URL|lizzyhawker.com}} | module =  | country = United Kingdom | sport = Running | rank = | event = | league = | league_type = | club = | team = | turnedpro = | partner = | former_partner = | coach = | retired = | coaching = | module2 =  | worlds = | regionals = | nationals = | olympics = | paralympics = | commonwealth = | highestranking = | pb = |  | medaltemplates = {{medalSport|Ultramarathon}} {{medalCountry|{{GBR}}}} {{medalCompetition|IAU 100 km World Championships}} {{MedalGold|2006 Misari Regatta|100 km}} {{MedalBronze|2010 Gibraltar|100 km}} | show-medals = | updated = 2 May 2015 }}

'''Elizabeth Hawker''' (born 10 March 1976) is a British endurance athlete.<ref name="Queen of the mountains">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2009/jul/26/lizzy-hawker-endurance-runner-athlete|title=Queen of the mountains|author=Ed Douglas|work=The Guardian}}</ref> Her career highlights include five wins at the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB), as well as the 2006 IAU 100 km World Championships. She is a former world record-holder at the 24 hour distance. She has also worked as an oceanographer and climate change researcher.<ref name="Aurum Press Ltd">{{cite book|last1=Hawker|first1=Lizzy|title=Runner: A short story about a long run|date=2015|publisher=Aurum Press Ltd|location=London|isbn=978-1781311479}}</ref>

==Early life== Hawker grew up in Upminster, a suburb of London.<ref name=NYT130416 /> She stated that she first fell for mountains when visiting Zermatt in the Swiss Alps at the age of six.<ref name="elinorfish">{{cite web|url=http://adventureblog.nationalgeographic.com/2014/10/03/new-trail-race-ultra-tour-monte-rosa-dishes-up-a-humbling-challenge/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150114004515/http://adventureblog.nationalgeographic.com/2014/10/03/new-trail-race-ultra-tour-monte-rosa-dishes-up-a-humbling-challenge/|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 January 2015|title=New Trail Race Ultra Tour Monte Rosa Dishes Up a Humbling Challenge|author=Elinor Fish|work=Beyond the Edge}}</ref>

==Career== Hawker ran her first long-distance race at the London Marathon in 2000.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/10087146/Lizzy-Hawker-Somewhere-it-just-became-normal-to-run-14-hours-a-day.html |title=Lizzy Hawker: 'Somewhere, it just became normal to run 14 hours a day'|date=30 May 2013|work=Telegraph.co.uk|last1=Cohen|first1=Claire}}</ref>

Hawker first ran the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) in 2005. Although she had never owned a pair of trail-running shoes until 10 days before the race she won it at her first attempt.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theactivetimes.com/active-times-50-2013-lizzy-hawker|title=The AT50: Ultrarunner Lizzy Hawker (#36)|work=The Active Times|date=2013-02-13}}</ref> She has won UTMB record five times, a record for either male or female runners.<ref name=NG2013>{{cite web |url=http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/adventurers-of-the-year/2013/lizzy-hawker/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104010202/http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/adventurers-of-the-year/2013/lizzy-hawker |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 November 2012 |title=Lizzy Hawker, 2013 Adventurers of the Year - National Geographic|last=Cahill |first=Fitz |work=National Geographic Society |access-date=1 September 2019 }}</ref>

The North Face began sponsoring Hawker in 2005. She continued to work as a researcher for the British Antarctic Survey until 2007, when she relocated to the Laufschule Scuol, a training centre in the Swiss Alps.<ref name=NYT130416 /> Hawker won the 2006 IAU 100km World Championships, and in 2007 set the record for running the 199 miles between Mount Everest South Base Camp and Kathmandu, Nepal, in 77 hours 36 minutes.<ref name=NG2013 />

The 2010 IAU 100 km World Championships saw Hawker lead the way for most of the race, battling with her compatriot Ellie Greenwood but she faded towards the end to take bronze behind Greenwood and Monica Carlin of Italy. This also earned her a bronze in the jointly hosted IAU 100 km European Championships.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iaaf.org/news/news/nakadai-and-greenwood-win-at-iau-100km-world|title=Nakadai and Greenwood win at IAU 100km World Championships |date=10 November 2010 |author=Staff |work=IAAF General News}}</ref> In 2011, she set the women's 24-hour world record with 153.5 miles in Llandudno, Wales.<ref name=Guardian130628>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/the-running-blog/2013/jun/28/lizzy-hawker-friday-flyer-interview|title=Lizzy Hawker: 'I might run around 180 miles in a week'|first=Nick |last=Van Mead |newspaper=The Guardian |date=28 June 2013 }}</ref> She also improved on her Everest record with a time of 71 hours 25 minutes.<ref name=NG2013 /> The following year Hawker won UTMB, the 100-mile Run Rabbit Run in Colorado, and the 155-mile Spartathlon while setting a new women's record and placing third overall.<ref name=NYT130416>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/16/sports/ultrarunner-competes-on-far-side-of-extreme.html?_r=0 |title=A Long Pursuit of Self |date=15 April 2013 |last=Barker |first=Sarah |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=1 September 2019 }}</ref>

She beat her Everest Base Camp–Kathmandu time in 2013, completing the distance in 63 hours.<ref name=Guardian130628 />

Hawker says that she has suffered few injuries in her career, except in the two years up to 2015, when she suffered six stress fractures.<ref name=RW1506>{{cite journal|title=Q&A: Lizzy Hawker|journal=Runner's World UK|date=June 2015|page=39}}</ref> She has a reputation for recovering quickly after major races.<ref name=NYT130416 />

While training for the UTMB, Hawker ran along the footpath of the Tour de Monte Rosa many times.<ref name="RW1506" /> This experience led her to create a new race, the Ultra Tour Monte Rosa, which runs for 93 miles from Grächen to Zermatt, on through villages in Italy, before returning to the start point. It incorporates more than 32,000 feet of ascent and descent over technical terrain. The inaugural "Zero Edition" took place in August 2015.<ref name="elinorfish"/>

Hawker ran, hiked and climbed 1,600 km across the Himalayas in Nepal in 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.athleticsweekly.com/featured/lizzy-hawker-always-moving-20857/|title=Lizzy Hawker - Always moving|work=Athletics Weekly|date=2015-04-08}}</ref>

She is the author of the book ''Runner: A short story about a long run''.<ref name="Aurum Press Ltd"/>

==Personal life== Hawker completed her PhD in physical oceanography from Southampton University in 2005. She has worked for the British Antarctic Survey, studying climate change along the Antarctic coastline.<ref name=NG2013 /><ref name=NYT130416 /> As of 2013, she lived in Switzerland.<ref name=NG2013 />

Hawker has been a strict vegetarian since five years old.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://historico.corredordemontana.com/leer-ultimas-noticias/4690-entrevista-a-lizzy-hawker.html|accessdate=2016-06-24|title= Lizzy Hawker: "Es increíble lo que puede tolerar el cuerpo humano" |date=2011-09-21|language=es|website=CorredordeMontaña.com}}</ref>

==See also== *List of Mount Everest records

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{Power of 10 name|16090}} *{{World Athletics}} *{{ARRS name|793}} *{{Twitter}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawker, Lizzy}} Category:1976 births Category:Living people Category:People from Upminster Category:Athletes from the London Borough of Havering Category:British ultramarathon runners Category:English women long-distance runners Category:British women long-distance runners Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:Women ultramarathon runners Category:British sky runners Category:Trail runners Category:20th-century British sportswomen Category:Alumni of the University of Southampton Category:British expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland