Allie Ostrander announced on Instagram this week that she has decided to end her contract with Brooks Running and take a step back from professional running.
“This was an incredibly difficult decision because my passion for running and competition is as strong as ever; however, the string of injuries that I experienced throughout the last year and a half has made it evident that my body cannot currently handle the volume and intensity of training that is necessary to be a professional runner,” Ostrander wrote on Instagram.
Ostrander had a storied athletic career at Kenai Central before graduating in 2015. She won three Class 4A state cross-country titles and in 2014 became the first Alaskan to win Nike Cross Nationals.
In both 2014 and 2015, Ostrander swept the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs at the Class 4A state meet. She still holds state meet records in the 1,600 and 3,200.
Ostrander also won a record six straight Mt. Marathon girls junior race titles, setting the course record in 2014 that still stands. She would go on to win the women’s title in 2017 and has run the second and third fastest times in race history.
Ostrander also played varsity basketball and soccer for the Kardinals. In 2012, she started the Salmon Run Series at Tsalteshi Trails, and the event is still raising money for the Kenai Watershed Forum every summer.
“Since the age of 10, I have prioritized athletic achievement over everything else, including my health,” Ostrander wrote on Instagram. “I didn’t realize the toll that was taking on me until I reached my breaking point.
“So it’s time for me to do what I should have all along: put my mental and physical health first. This isn’t me retiring from professional running, it’s just me taking a step back.”
The success continued for Ostrander at Boise State University, where she won the NCAA Division I steeplechase three times. In 2016, she competed at 5,000 meters in the Olympic Trials and finished eighth to miss the team. She also won the girls junior race at the World Mountain Running Championships in 2015.
In the summer of 2019, Ostrander forfeited her final year of athletic eligibility at Boise State and signed with Brooks. Ostrander had graduated from Boise State in May 2019 with a degree in kinesiology and a 4.0 grade-point average.
As a pro, Ostrander qualified for the IAAF World Athletics Championships in the steeplechase in 2019, missing missing qualifying for the finals by less than a second. In February 2020, Ostrander picked up her first victory as a pro by taking the 3,000 at the Millrose Games in New York City.
In June, Ostrander announced in a video online that she was undergoing treatment for an eating disorder. She added that treatment was her priority over the Olympic trials, which took place later that month. At the trials, Ostrander ran a personal best to finish eighth in the steeplechase, but that was not enough to make the Olympics.
“I’m making the decision in the hope that some time to heal and become stronger will let me train at a high level when I return,” Ostrander wrote.
She also thanked Brooks for how the company handled the tough times in her career.
“Even though I didn’t run as fast or win as many races as I wanted to, I hope my openness with my struggles can shed light on how honest and respectable of a company Brooks is,” Ostrander wrote. “They helped me pursue treatment and continued to support me even when injuries sidelined me for most of 18 months.”
