In a single day, Avery Collins (@runninhigh) covers more distance on his own two legs than some people travel in a car to and from work. In fact, he routinely runs 20 to 40 miles a day over thousands of feet in elevation.
Originally from North Carolina, the 26-year-old started running competitively about five years ago and since then has competed and excelled in races from the 50-kilometer distance up to to 200 kilometers.
Currently based in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, with fellow successful ultrarunner and partner Sabrina Stanley, Avery manages a thriving coaching practice, a local running store, and all the while pursues his elite ultra running goals and in the winter season searches for the best mountain faces to snowboard.
Our founder, Don McLaughlin, first saw Avery running during the Hahn’s Peak Hill climb charity race (which Avery helped organize) in 2017, as Don climbed up Hahn’s Peak and Avery came barreling down a nearly 20 degree slope. “I’ve never seen someone run so fast down hill,” says Don, “and when he passed me, I felt this rush of speed and power that felt like a force of nature. I thought he might trigger a rock slide.”
A Meteoric Rise
Despite his relatively short professional career, Avery burst onto the elite ultra trail running scene. In 2017, Ultra Magazine ranked him 9th in the world among men. That same year he also won the Georgia Death Race, Grindstone 100, and Continental Divide 50. In January 2018, Avery started the year strong with a dominating win in the HURT 100 in Hawaii, where he beat the next best runner by over 2 hours.
Avery at the Mighty Tor des Geants
Most recently, Avery conquered the world famous Tor des Geants in Italy, a 206 mile race with over 86,000 feet of climbing. The Tor is widely regarded as one of the world’s most challenging and dangerous trail races. And Avery’s exceptional performance at the 2018 race solidified his position as one of the world’s most elite trail racers. He persevered for nearly 4 days through dark nights and gnarly, brutally vertical trails to finish 11th out of 898 starters.
How Botanicals Bolster Avery’s Self-Care Routine
As an elite athlete, Avery is very in-tune with his body and is conscious of the wear and tear that can occur during these lengthy treks through challenging mountainous terrain. To this end, he is a big advocate of supporting his body’s own recovery process after these herculean efforts. Specifically, he has become well known for integrating herbs and botanicals into his training regime.
As part of PurePower’s beta testing during the summer of 2018, Avery incorporated PurePower’s line of Performance HempTM supplements into his training to not just reduce pain, swelling, and fatigue but also to push through major plateaus in training to achieve better results.
“What can I say?” says Avery. “I’m addicted to the rush of life, and PurePower played an instrumental role in allowing my body to recharge day after day for my big training days in the mountains.”
As for his recovery from the Tor and a hard 2018 season, he posted on social within just a few days of the Tor that he’d had the “best recovery ride I’ve probably ever been on….38 miles w/6K of climb…” and that “Power Up” & “Reboot” are an absolute necessity in my daily routine… Only 4 days after Tor Des Geants I was back in the saddle cranking out 40 – 50 mile bike rides with full energy in large part due to PurePower!”
We at PurePower are excited to have Avery as part of the team and look forward to helping him discover deeper reserves, longer distances, and incredible heights in his escalating success as a professional ultrarunner.
Photo credit: @horizonsportstv
