Christian Allen’s mullet precedes him—his foray into the professional running scene seems, like his elite hair and mustache combo, shocking. However, for those that know him, his rise has been anything but, as he recently won the Broken Arrow Ascent in Olympic Valley, California, coming in first overall in a race with 452 finishers.
Like so many runners, Christian Allen’s athletic journey didn’t begin in competitive running. His first love was soccer and to him, running was a punishment enforced at soccer practice. Christian started running competitively on a whim. During the early days of high school, some friends invited him to compete in a cross-country race at the age of 15. The incentive? French toast. That breakfast delicacy was a welcome reward as was the conditioning for spring soccer. Christian signed up, raced and immediately fell in love with the competitive aspect of running. He also found great fulfillment in seeing both how far and how fast he could push himself. His enjoyment for the sport of running would grow throughout the rest of his high school athletics career. However, his excitement increased dramatically the following spring during track and field season.
As a sophomore in high school, Christian received his first collegiate offer. After running a 4:23 mile at altitude, the interest from college programs began to trickle in. He received letters from Notre Dame, Alabama and other big programs. However, his final two years of high school running had highs and lows due to injuries and in the end, the college offers began to dry up and he was left with few schools to choose from. He attended Weber State, which was small and close to home. This was a decision that would go on to set him up for success in both running and his personal life.
Although Weber State is small, it boasts historically strong cross-country and track and field programs. During Christian’s time there, the lowest their program ranked was 35th in the country, out of roughly 150 Division I schools. Behind their success was the program’s leader, Coach Corbin Talley. Christian describes Coach Talley as a person that provided room for him to be curious and to test his limits, allowing Christian to mold workouts to his ever-increasing fitness levels. In addition, the trail access at Weber State is difficult to beat. Coach Talley allowed Christian, and the rest of the team, to run on trails during the week. (From their school’s track, the team could reach single-track trails about a quarter mile from campus.) Thus, Christian would do both a speed workout on the track, and a workout on trails each week for training. This trail work was a labor of love and Christian quickly felt a connection to the mountains. Coach Talley’s support of weekly trail running helped Christian to maintain a love for running through variety, and it helped him remain healthy due to the variation in grade and surface. During his time at Weber State, Christian became an All-American athlete, and his relationship with Coach Talley was a key to his rise to the top.
At the end of Christian’s time at Weber State, he decided to pursue further educational and running opportunities at BYU, a school down the road which boasts famous running alumni such as Jared Ward, Clayton Young and Conner Mantz. The squad is coached by the legendary Ed Eyestone. Christian left Weber State with big goals and bigger dreams, and while BYU helped him to attain the professional running career he has worked to achieve, things weren’t smooth at first.
Unfortunately, Christian’s time at BYU was fraught with a number of setbacks. He faced a debilitating case of COVID, stress fractures and a fatigue issue, among other physical challenges. However, he continued to work, and amidst the difficulties, found success by making both a world cross-country team and world trail team. Because Christian was unable to compete in his first cross-country season at BYU due to eligibility issues that stemmed from the injuries, he was allowed to compete at various trail races both in the US and Europe. His performances during this time period helped him gain recognition, and various brands took note.
While still in this second round of college, Christian missed out on his goals of becoming an All-American and Top 40 in the nation, falling just short at 44th overall. While he was disappointed, his time at BYU gave him the opportunity to run with Coach Eyestone’s professional marathon team. Christian, as always, leaned on his coaches and his trust in Coach Eyestone paid off.
It was during the latter end of his collegiate career that Christian finished second at Challenge Stellina, won the Bentonville Dirt Circus, finished first overall at a Cirque Series race and found himself on the podiums of other events. In addition, he set out to run his first ultra: the Speedgoat 50k. On July 22, 2023, Christian won the race in an impressive 5:23. These major successes eventually led to an opportunity for Christian to run professionally.
With a goal to compete in more ultras over the next year in order to qualify for CCC (UMTB) in 2026, he is currently pursuing life balance. As a husband and father of four, he strives to devote time to various areas including family, his job as a co-owner/manager of a running store and a professional running career. His life is a juggling act, but running gives him both purpose and motivation.