Words: Ultra Magazine
In 1988 Walker set world best marks at 100 miles (twice under 15 hours), 24 hours and 48 hours. The 48 hour stayed as the British record until 2023.
Hilary Walker has been a key figure in the world of ultramarathons in recent history, as an athlete, an official and an organisational figure and it is difficult to say where she has had the biggest impact.
Her own running journey started in 1982 and after around 15 marathons Walker stepped into the world of ultramarathons in 1985. Even in that first year, with a second place in 9:48 at the Lincolnshire ultra races 100km there were signs that the Serpentine Running Club athlete would make some waves in ultramarathon.
1985 saw a first 24hr race that ended with a win and 203.251km on the board and progression in 24hr format didn’t take long. In 1986 Walker’s total was 220.568km and the world best was in sight.
In those first few years the progress came from race experience, but after the training mileage started to grow as well and at the start of 1988 the previous 12 months had seen a 100-mile-per-week average. Consistency is key and a lot of this training was undertaken around a important job as a civil servant in the UK’s Department of Health.
1986 was the year Walker and Eleanor Robinson first raced together and both athletes would be the best of British ultrarunners for years to come. Their competition would spur both onto greater achievements.
Robinson set a new 24hr world best in 1985 of 222.8km and in 1987 Walker took the title herself with 230.618km. What followed was a four-year battle that saw the top spot change hands five times until eventually Adams-Robinson’s over 240km in 1989, which stood until 1993. Walker’s PB reached 236.453km.
It wasn’t just 24hr world bests that were under threat, in 1988 alone Walker set world best marks at 100 miles (twice under 15 hours), 24 hours and 48 hours. The 48 hour of 366.512km stayed as British record under it was broken by Joasia Zakrzewski in 2023.
1986 was the year Walker and Eleanor Robinson first raced together and both athletes would be the best of British ultrarunners for years to come.
Over the years Walker won classic ultra races such as Spartathlon, London to Brighton, Barry 40, Two Bridges, the 1992 European 100km Championships in Winschoten and was a medallist at the 1989 World and 1993 European 100km Champs.
Outside of her own running, Walker has been vital to the progress and continued existence of our sport.
As a British National Endurance Official/Referee she is key to the smooth running of championships and record attempts at both domestic and international level. Events such as the Centurion Track 100, where both Camille Herron and Aleksandr Sorokin have set world bests would not be possible without the officials involved and Hilary has been serving the sport in this way for over two decades.
In addition to this she has served as general secretary for the IAU over five terms since 2004 and continues to do so to this current day, and she is a member of the World Athletics Road Committee and thus able to ensure that the infl uence of ultrarunning is felt in the wider sport. Ultrarunning is in a better place globally because of the work Hilary does, and has done for 20 years.
Hilary Walker’s inclusion in this Hall of Fame was a very easy decision. Not only has she been one of Britain and the world’s foremost ultrarunners, she has also served the sport as both an official and a member of its executive council for decades. Either of these factors alone would warrant inclusion, but combined it is simply common sense.