The two runners that find themselves in fourth this year are both making their second apperances in the TROY top ten. While they compete in two strikingly different disciplines of trail running they are both runners that are very much students of their craft. We’ve been cheering incredibly loudly for these two for the last two seasons through the highs and the lows and cannot wait to cheer them on from start line to start line in 2026 and beyond. If you’ve missed any of the countdown thus far, you can find them here: fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth.
In fourth position this year, we have adidas TERREX’s Abby Hall and Nnormal’s Elhousine Elazzaoui.
In 2022 Abby Hall’s star was on the rise; she won Transvulcania, finshed second at Transgrancanaria, third at CCC (her second podium in back to back years)… results that put her eighth in the inaugural year of TROY voting. Then in June of 2023, on a everyday training run, in her backyard in Flagstaff, Arizona she took a misstep crushing her femur into her tibia as she felt her knee sublux. The road to recovery would be long, not taking her first steps without crutches for three months as she worked through blood clots, surgery, and rehabilitation. Those first walking steps became running steps and Abby returned to racing ten months later in Arizona before making it through a hard but important loop around the Mont Blanc at the 2024 UTMB. Finding form, Abby went onto win the Ultra-Trail Kosciuszko by UTMB before the calendar closed out on 2024 – the long arduous “return” complete.
With what felt like a delayed start in 2024 Abby hit the ground running in 2025, clearly on the hunt for a golden ticket back to Western States, a race she finished 14th in during her 2021 season. With near misses at Black Canyon 100-kilometer and Chianti by UTMB 120-kilometer, where she finished fifth and fourth respectively, it seemed like her golden ticket chase might have been over for 2025. Then the unthinkable happen. Emkay Sulllivan, who had snagged one of three golden tickets during Black Canyon, was pregnant causing her ticket to roll down to the next woman within the top six – enter Abby Hall. After chasing all spring I can’t imagine the relief Abby felt when she got the call, she was supposed to be there. From nearly missing the chance to start Western States to running the best 100-miler of her career to date, Abby ran into the history books running the fourth fastest time for a woman in race history, and PR’ing by well over five hours. Not one to rest on her laurels, Abby went on to shake off at bad day at the 2025 UTMB (170-kilometer) to win (outright) and set a course record on ostensibly her home course at the McDowell Mountain Frenzy 50-mile in December.
We asked Abby what her highlight was for the year and she said, “Without a doubt, my highlight of 2025 was entering the track to finish Western States. That moment is the tip of an iceberg that goes far below the surface, a big story I’ve been seeing through for the last two years when an injury made me hungrier than ever.” In exciting news for us trail super fans – Abby will be back to Western States in 2026 rocking the F1 bib as she attempts to bring home a second cougar.
To many it might seem like Elhousine Elazzaoui arrived in 2024; and while that was the first year he won the overall title for the Golden Trail World Series (GTWS), it was far from his first year cutting his teeth in some of the post exciting races in our sport. The Moroccan athlete has steadily since 2021 truly become one of the best sub-ultra trail runners in the world, a constant threat for the win, and a hard man to count out as a lock for the podium any given weekend. 2025 marks Elhousine as the back to back overall GTWS winner, a feat only Rémi Bonnet and Maud Mathys have previously pulled off, and his fourth year in a row finishing the season ranked in the top five in the series globally. Maybe most importantly for trail fans, it has not been a walk in the park, wherein each and every race win is a nail-biter that leaves us absolutely locked in.
Unlike in 2024, where it seemed like it took Elhousine several spring races to finally find his rhythm, 2025 kicked off smoothly. In fact, reflecting on Elhousine’s season, it was nearly flawless! If you remove the “bad day” that he had at Sierre-Zinal where he placed ninth, by far his best ever Sierre-Zinal finish, he never crossed the line in worse than second place… which also only happened once at the Golfo Dell Isola (GTWS) in May. Beyond that, Elhousine took home the win at the Chianti Ultra Trail by UTMB Half Marathon, Zegama-Aizkorri, The Broken Arrow Skyrace 23-kilometer, Tepec Trail 34-kilometer, and the GTWS Grand Finale (Ledro Sky Trentino). Now what we are wondering is, can Elhousine be the first runner to win the GTWS title for a third year in a row? One thing is certain, more sprint finishes are in our future!
Abby and Elhousine you continue to impress us with your focus and tenacity on and off the race track. In many ways your 2025 seasons were years in the making and we can’t wait to see what they are building towards in 2026. Check back here tomorrow as we roll into our third place position in this year’s TROY count down.
Thanks to All Conditions Gear for their support of the 2025 Trail Runner of the Year awards!