Hayden Hawks

Hayden Hawks grew up in St. George, Utah, playing basketball before switching to distance running in high school. He won state championships in the 1600m and 3200m and ran on scholarship at Southern Utah University, where he earned All-American honors in cross country.

His transition to trail racing was fast. After only his third trail race, Hawks was selected for the United States team at the 2016 World Mountain Running Championships in Bulgaria. The team won gold -- the first-ever U.S. gold at the event -- and Hawks finished fourth individually.

He then built one of the more consistent elite ultra records in American trail running. He won the CCC, the 100-kilometer UTMB race, in 2017 and returned to win it again in 2024. In between, he won the Lavaredo Ultra Trail in 2018, the Black Canyon 100K in 2020, and several shorter ultra events. He holds the Zion Traverse fastest known time at 6:50:49 over 48 miles.

Hawks trains in the canyon terrain around St. George, a region that has become an increasingly common base for elite trail runners because of its year-round access to technical ground and elevation. He is sponsored by HOKA and holds a UTMB Index of 907, placing him among the top-ranked trail ultrarunners in the world.

He is married with two children.