To us mere mortals, running over 200 miles for one race seems impossible. For experienced and skilled trail runners like Abby Hall, it’s a feat that can and has been accomplished. It’s safe to say that when tackling the trails like Hall, footwear selection is extremely important.
New to the Adidas Terrex lineup is the Agravic Flow 2. It’s a versatile trail runner that combines an EVA foam Lightstrike midsole with Adidas pro-moderator technology to help keep feet stable and protected over the harshest terrain. It rides on a grippy Continental Rubber outsole with aggressive lugs and a mudguard to defy the elements. It also features breathable mesh for increased airflow and a sustainable upper made in part with Parley Ocean Plastic—in step with Adidas’s commitment to helping end plastic waste.
We had the chance to sit down with Adidas Terrex athlete Abby Hall to learn more about her rising trail running career and learn more about the Adidas gear that helps her go the distance. She is a true embodiment of the Adidas spirit, showing that the impossible is nothing.
BITR: Could you speak on your transition from a graphic designer to a professional athlete? When did you know that you wanted to pursue running full-time?
ABBY: I worked full-time as a designer for about nine years before quitting my job to run professionally. Slowly, as the sport started to play a more serious role in my life, what once felt like balance felt more like an exhausting juggling routine. I had the opportunity to align my time with where my heart was, and I was fortunate to make that leap. I wanted to take a bet on myself and see how far I could take it, and I’m glad I did because I know it won’t last forever.
I still keep a couple of design projects going on the side and just recently did the design work for my coach Jason Koop’s book, “Training Essentials for Ultrarunning: Second Edition.” It was fun to cross-pollinate my design work in the running sphere.
BITR: What prompted your interest in trail running specifically? What was the path like to becoming an Adidas athlete?
ABBY: I grew up in the Chicago area, and every summer, we’d make the family pilgrimage in the mini-van out to Colorado. Some of my best memories as a kid were out on the trails of Colorado with my family. Every year when we’d leave, I’d cry in the backseat as we drove back east until the Rockies were out of sight. That sense of home in the mountains didn’t play a major role until years later, when I was living in Los Angeles. I got a permit to climb Mt. Whitney, and within a period of a few months, that experience snowballed me into spending just about every weekend in the Sierra—hungry to have big experiences outside. I decided I wanted to put that hunger for outdoor experiences and the resulting community of like-minded people at the center of my life.
I started running when I was a kid and competed through high school and college, but I dove headfirst into ultrarunning pretty much as soon as I heard it existed. That pulled me to Boulder, Colorado. A few years into my journey within the sport, Adidas Terrex took a chance on me, and I’m forever grateful they did. Joining our team has been the greatest support network I could ask for.
BITR: Do you have a favorite terrain and/or place to run?
ABBY: My favorite at the moment is the steep route out of our backyard in Flagstaff. I love that no matter what kind of day I’ve had, I can go out into the quiet of the forest and move uphill. Getting to intimately know every rock and log and turn is the kind of experience that makes a trail really feel like your home route. It’s the kind of run that (almost) always leaves me feeling better than when I started!
BITR: You achieved the second unsupported FKT on the John Muir Trail, finishing in 4 days, 11 hours. How did you prepare both physically and mentally before this attempt? Looking back on the experience, what does this accomplishment mean to you?
ABBY: Second unsupported FKT—I like that way of putting it! While I didn’t set the FKT out there, I put up a time I’m really proud of and will forever be one of my favorite and most impactful life experiences. Getting dropped off at the base of Mt. Whitney with a 20-pound pack, knowing you’ll get picked up 220 miles later in Yosemite Valley, is humbling to the core. Four days later, I came out on the other side covered in dirt and wildfire ashes, with an empty bear canister, forever changed.
Preparing physically wasn’t as extensive as it could have been in an ideal world—I got my permit about a month before. In instances like that, I like to rely on the consistent foundation of training and focus on doing whatever mentally prepares me the most. Proper gear selection was a big part of my time leading up to the start, and I was able to squeeze in a couple of fastbacks to test my choices. As the scale of the challenge gets larger, I focus on even smaller increments of the task at hand. I’d think to myself, “I might not know if I can go this fast for 220 miles, but I know I can do it for a few more miles right now.”
My first goal in the sport was to set the FKT on the JMT. I had a failed supported attempt in 2016, an unsupported finish in 2020, and still have unfinished business out there. I view it as a lifelong project I’ll continue forming an intimate relationship with. I’m always dreaming of it. This summer, my husband Cordis and I will do an 80-mile stretch on it together, and I can’t wait to show him some of my favorite parts of the trail.
BITR: Do you currently have any other FKTs attempts in mind or other race goals that you hope to achieve?
ABBY: As far as FKTs go, I’ll definitely head back to the JMT again sometime in the coming years. For now, I’m focusing on fast racing. I’ll be returning to my favorite race this year, CCC. It’ll be my third time running it. The entire UTMB week gets me so amped about our sport and community. I’m in a period of time where I’m enjoying taking risks in races and learning from them. That approach has spurred a lot of growth for me and is the goal I’m continuing to follow for the foreseeable future.
BITR: Niklas Benzer, Adidas Terrex’s Senior Product Manager, shares that the Agravic Flow 2 is “capable of tackling anything from gravel trails in city parks to more demanding terrain in the mountains.” We followed up with Abby to get her thoughts on the Agravic Flow 2 and hear more about the design process.
What do you love about Adidas Terrex, specifically the Agravic Flow 2?
ABBY: I love how Adidas Terrex products truly reflect the diverse demands of our team. Our team is from all over the globe, and each of our home trails and goal races all look incredibly different. There are products that fit what each of us is up to, and because we all get to play a part in the design process, I think it provides a blend of products that have been tried and tested on trails around the whole globe. The lineup captures the wide range of the sport nicely. The Agravic Flow 2 is my go-to shoe when I’m not exactly sure where the trail will take me. It’s the shoe I always keep in our van so that I’m prepared to run wherever our adventures take us.
BITR: What did the feedback process with Adidas look like when working on the development of the Agravic Flow 2?
ABBY: I actually did the JMT in the original Agravic Flow. (It’s not every day that you get the opportunity to see how a pair of shoes holds up for a single 220-mile outing!) Taking what I gathered from that long experience in them, paired with everyday training, I loved that Terrex was able to preserve the easy fit that makes that shoe successful for entire consecutive days at a time while taking the shoe further to meet an even wider range of demands.
We focused on testing them in a variety of environments and styles of trail. I specifically built mixed-terrain routes that would help me find the limits of the shoe and compared how it performed on wet days, icy days, or hot, dusty days. Fortunately, living in Arizona offers a broad spectrum of conditions in our immediate perimeter. It’s a great place to put shoes to the test!
BITR: The Agravic Flow 2 utilizes Adidas’s Parley Ocean Plastic. How does this connect to your sustainability values as a runner?
ABBY: Our sport is an intimate reminder of how critical it is to protect our planet. Giving another life to plastic removed from our oceans is not only smart design but a constant reminder when I look down at my feet to continually make choices that value our planet.
BITR: We’re blown away by how much Abby has accomplished so far in her trail running career and can’t wait to see what she’ll take on next. For those of you who maybe aren’t as familiar with the ultrarunning scene, we wanted to share a message from Abby below.
We want to help encourage growth across all areas of our sport, not limiting our coverage to just the track or the roads. What’s one thing that you would share with people who may be new to the trail and ultra community?
ABBY: The sport is growing so much right now, and it’s thrilling. There are a million tiny moments that ultrarunning presents like nothing else in the world. It requires a near-constant state of problem-solving and adapting. It has taught me self-belief and fear management that I feel could have easily taken decades to learn otherwise. So I’d encourage those dipping a toe into the sport: be open to letting the sport teach you things. Ultrarunning can be a bit of a mirror. I think taking on the challenges it presents allows us to see ourselves in a new way.
You can continue to follow Abby Hall’s journey as an Adidas Terrex athlete by following her on Instagram @abby.k.hall and over at @adidasterrex.
Don’t forget to check out the Agravic Flow 2 footwear and apparel collection now available at the button below, with retail pricing ranging from $25-$160 US.
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