Runner

Paige Penrose

The North Face welcomes trail runner Paige Penrose to our athlete team.

Paige Penrose Runner Athlete

According to Paige, when she runs, her brain that is usually in overdrive finally feels in rhythm with the rest of her being. But running wasn’t always natural to her.

She despised running as a kid, and didn’t get into the sport until her last year of high school – where she reluctantly went to state competition while trying not to make the cut.

Though running didn’t speak to her at the time, the trails did. Her dad would encourage her to get out after school and explore the trails in their hometown of Stanwell Park.

Paige spent a gap year with the Air Force, where track training put her talent for the sport on display. Upon completing her time with the Air Force, she found a new community in trail running.

“I had no idea there was this whole running community, that you could race outside of school.” Paige explains running is now her entire social world, and offers support well beyond the physical and health benefits. Through volunteer work with For Wild Places, Paige maintains connection to both the running community and environmental stewardship.

In her first time entering a trail race, Paige came first overall at the Australian Alpine Ascent 12km, and later that year was the 1st female at the Ultra-Trail Australia 11km race, and 1st female at the Tarawera 21km, and 1st female at the Takayna Ultra 22km event.

Paige followed up these early successes in 2021, finishing 1st female at the Ultra-Trail Australia 22km, placing 1st female and 4th overall at Takayna 26km, and 1st female and 3rd overall at the National Skyrunning Championships 20km at Buffalo Stampede.

Despite the results on the trail, for Paige, simply choosing to run or move in someway at the start of the day makes a huge difference to who she is as a person. “No matter where we go, who we meet or what happens to us, we’re always left with ourselves at the very least. If we can find home in ourselves, that’s pretty cool.” Running is one thing that makes her feel closer to home.

Paige is studying exercise physiology with goals to move into prosthetics with the intention of enabling sport participation for those who previously couldn’t play in this way.

2021 Highlights