Ella Hagen is the first female athlete to join HOKA’s NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) initiative that aims to support talented high school trail runners. The deal allows her to monetize her trail running career, with the support of popular running shoe brand HOKA, while maintaining her eligibility to compete in high school or collegiate sports. Hagen, Summit County High School rising senior (based in Breckenridge, CO), Colorado High School State champion in three different sports (nordic skiing, track, and cross country), and 2023 National High School Trail Champion, is excited for the opportunity to dive deeper into the trail running scene.
In the 2024 summer season, HOKA offers Hagen support at several events to expand her trail running resume, including pacing/crewing fellow Hoka athlete Heather Jackson at the 2024 Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run and racing two events: the National High School Trail Championships (NHSTC) on July 27, and YCC youth race in Chamonix France as part of the UTMB in Chamonix France as part of the UTMB race week on August 27. Hagen speaks of her excitement for this season’s events, “I’m looking forward to learning about new sides to this sport that I’ve never seen. HOKA has been so supportive, especially with me still racing high school track and cross country next year. I love that they are showing with this program that you don’t have to specialize in track or trail, and you can do both!”
Hagen (168) in the elite women’s 5,000-meter run at the 2024 On Track Nights: Vienna race. Photo provided by Ella Hagen.
What is NIL?
NIL allows high school athletes to monetize their name, image, and likeness, typically through connecting with relevant industry brands who support their developing careers without losing their eligibility to compete in high school or collegiate sports. This is a new development in sports history in the past five years. In 2021, there was only one state to approve NIL deals for high school athletes (California), but this has quickly changed. As of 2024, over half of the states in the US approve NIL deals for talented high schoolers across a variety of sports. Hagen is one of the first high school athletes in the country to receive an NIL deal for trail running.
Fun fact: Member of the 2022 and 2023 U18 US Mountain Running team and 2023 National High School Trail Champion Benji Anderson was also signed by HOKA’s NIL initiative in June 2024 and will be competing with Hagen at YCC.
Vertical Enthusiast
Although Hagen still has much potential to grow as a trail runner, she is far from a novice in the sport. Hagen has been dominating local Summit Trail Running Series races, even winning events outright by the age of 15 (beating both the men and women!). In 2023, she raced overseas in the Vertical Kilometer Open Race at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Innsbruck, Austria. Hagen was excited by the vertical kilometer race format (read more about popular vertical races here) and found herself experiencing trail running in entirely new ways than she ever had before racing in Austria. She speaks on how this event heightened her passion for trail running, “I’ve had so many trail memories that led me to really falling in love with the sport, but the VK in Austria flipped a switch about how I viewed the sport for sure. It was a different form of racing, different scene, and different community than anything I’d experienced in the US, and I loved it. It was exciting to see a whole new side to the sport, a side which I hope to continue to discover in partnering with HOKA and racing overseas again soon!” Also in 2023, Hagen had arguably her best performance on trails, setting the course record at the National High School Trail Championships (NHSTC) in a time of 36:31.
Hagen is a “student of the sport” and has many trail running idols who have inspired her to explore her potential. Her family has personal connections with U.S. trail running legend Jim Walmsley (Hagen recalls having him over for dinner on a few occasions). She cites Walmsley, Kilian Jornet, and Allie McLaughlin as some of the trail running stars she looks up to most.
Hagen pacing Heather Jackson at the 2024 Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run. Photo provided by Ella Hagen.
Hagen’s Takes Part in the Historic Western States 100
The Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run is one of the most historic ultra distance (over 26.2 miles) trail running events in the United States. June 27, 2024, Hagen paced and crewed elite trail runner and triathlete Heather Jackson to a 7th-place finish in a competitive field of national and international runners. Hagen says about her experience crewing Jackson and pacing her from the bottom of Forest Hill (mile 62) as well as the final miles to the finish on the Placer High School track, “Getting to experience Western States showed me a different side of the sport I love and it was really inspiring to see how incredible the athletes are. Pacing/crewing for Heather was an amazing experience, and I was so grateful to be a part of it. Running with her, even just for the short sections, was incredibly fun and also showed me the grit it takes to compete on the trails. It definitely highlighted how far being in this sport can take you and the opportunities it can give you. Western States embodied the human/hokaspirit, #flyhumanfly.”
While Hagen is still only in high school, she’s already contemplating the possibility of running ultras such as the Western States 100 one day, “I think it’s incredible what the athletes can do in ultrarunning. While I don’t see myself there yet, I can imagine how my running could morph into it for sure one day. Short trail races are where I’m at right now, but I’m excited to continue my trail running career and see where it goes!”
Hagen has many large running goals ahead of her as she approaches her final year of high school. Most immediately, she looks forward to defending her title at the 2024 National High School Trail Championship on July 27, as well as racing against the best youth trail running competition in the world at the two-day YCC competition in Chamonix, France. While Hagen supported Heather Jackson at Western States, Jackson will support Hagen at YCC as part of the HOKA crew of athletes attending the event.
Hagen is one of the best examples of a multisport athlete who benefits from diversified training. Photo provided by Ella Hagen.
A Star of Many Sports
Hagen is one of the best examples of a multisport athlete who benefits from diversified training. Training in multiple sports disciplines at a young age can limit the risks of burning out by overtraining in a single discipline. Her trail racing and training fit naturally into her summer months, which are not occupied by the cross country, Nordic skiing, and track training she competes in during the rest of the year. Trail running also complements these other disciplines by strengthening muscles, building an aerobic base, and providing some of the toughest mental and physical challenges in any sport (read about 200-mile trail races here if you want to understand the insane challenges of trail running!).
Elite runners have been increasingly outspoken about the benefits of diversified training, and it’s exciting to see an athlete as talented as Hagen following in their footsteps. Anna Gibson, Christian Allen, Grayson Murphy, Allie Ostrander, and Lauren Gregory are all examples of athletes who have competed in track, cross country, road, and trail running disciplines in the same year and preach the benefits of competing in a variety of sports to supplement their training, avoid overuse injuries and provide them with new goals to chase. These “hybrid” athletes also exist across Nordic skiing/trail running disciplines. The 2024 Broken Arrow 52K Skyrace and Mount Marathon competitions were both won by Nordic skiers (David Sinclair and David Norris). To excel in any particular aerobic sports discipline, it’s often advantageous to become stronger in adjacent sports that can introduce new stresses to the body while not over-fatiguing body systems responsible for any one particular sport. (read coach Alex Willis’ cross-training tips for trail runners if you would like to understand the specific benefits of being a multisport athlete in more detail).
HOKA founder Nico Mermound with Hagen. Photo provided by Ella Hagen.
While Hagen has many championships across a variety of sports that she’s chasing, the trail running community is excited to see her explore her talent for this sport. Hagen’s grown up loving the trails and now has a greater opportunity to explore her potential thanks to this groundbreaking HOKA deal that may prove to be a new strategy for bridging the gap for talented high school Nordic, track, or cross country athletes into trail running.
Stay tuned for our coverage of the 2024 National High School Trail Championships at which Hagen will be competing. Read more about the event here.
All photos in this article have been generously provided by Ella Hagen.
