Versatile, hard-working Purrier taking run at NCAA title

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

It’s late Friday afternoon and Elinor Purrier has just finished her pre-meet run at Hard’ack Recreation Area in St. Albans, Vt. With its picturesque rolling hay fields, it’s a place that instantaneously brings back memories and is a time of self-reflection for the University of New Hampshire senior.

“It’s crazy to think I used to run there in high school, and how I’ve changed, how many things have changed,” Purrier explained. “It just reminds me of where I’ve come from; it’s really emotional.”

It’s fitting that Purrier’s final conference cross country championship is back in the state that helped shape her into the person she is today. 

A lot has changed in five years for the small-town girl from Vermont known better as “Elle” (pronounced Ellie). She’s discovered a passion for running and become a national success in the sport at New Hampshire. But at the core, a lot hasn’t changed.  

"Her upbringing, her family, they have really defined who she is,” veteran New Hampshire head coach Robert Hoppler said. “There’s absolutely no question that the reason she’s able to run the way she runs is part of how she grew up.”

Not your typical distance runner

A steady stream of laughter comes from Hoppler when asked if Purrier is a typical distance runner. It’s not a laugh stemmed from a knee-slapping joke but rather one based from years of watching Purrier develop into one of the most versatile and unique runners in NCAA Division 1.  

“She’s an athlete who happens to be a distance runner,” he said. “She’s without a doubt a non-traditional distance runner.”

Let’s review. The 5-foot-3 Purrier is a seven-time NCAA All-American in the mile, 3,000-meter steeplechase and cross country. During the 2017 indoor track season, she won the American East 800-meter title in 2:04.02. She competed in the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials in the steeplechase. It’s hard to find an event in which she can’t excel. 

“I would say she sort of defies categorization,” Richford High cross country Andrew Hathaway said. “I think that’s why it was so fun to coach her in high school, in that she is a pretty strong individual with an authentic identity. She’s pretty fiercely independent.” 

Purrier comes from a blue-collar background. Raised on a farm in the Vermont town of Montgomery (population around 1,200) she carries with her a mentality that hard work will get the job done. She grew up doing chores before school, helping take care of the family cows, feeding, milking and bedding. A lot of times after school and sports practice, she’d go home and do it all over again. 

“I was a lot busier in high school,” she said with a laugh.

Purrier played four years of basketball and one year of soccer at Richford, a school of grades 6-12 with roughly 250 students. She didn’t start running until high school when the track coach saw her running the mile during basketball tryouts. She proceeded to win two straight Nike Cross National Northeast titles and multiple state crowns. 

“I wasn’t really defined as a runner, I feel like, until I came to college and got more emerged into the running community,” Purrier said. 

Simplistic approach

Purrier, who is in her fifth year at New Hampshire, can easily draw the parallels between farming and running. The life lessons she’s learned along the way have aided in a transparent and basic approach to excelling in a mentally tough sport. Hoppler explained she takes the good, the bad, a win or a loss, she’s still the same kid at the end. 

“A race is a race. Six kilometers, well OK, it’s kind of long, but let’s go,” Hoppler said. “The old middle school mentality of draw a line in the sand, stick your heel in and start here and finish there, who gets there first; she really keeps it simple.”

That approach is one of the main reasons Purrier has found success in a multitude of events. Hoppler explained as a coach he works really hard on developing the range of an athlete, leaving the door open for options down the road. 

“I think she has a pretty strong work ethic,” Hathaway said. “You’ve got to keep going, which is pretty critical for anyone involved in endurance. So you got that, and if you don’t try to rush things, you’re probably going to be able to accomplish something kind of cool."

This fall, her biggest cross country victory came Oct. 14 when she outkicked defending NCAA champion Karissa Schweizer of Missouri to win the Division 1 Pre-National Invitational 6-kilometer race in 19:28.5 in Louisville, Ky. 

“I wasn’t really expecting to win," said Purrier, who finished seventh at last year’s national final, 15 seconds behind Schweizer.

“It was definitely a check of where I was fitness wise. It was a confidence booster, but in cross county everyone is a contender.”

A strong role model

Hathaway said there have been plenty of events where they’ve gathered around a big screen at school to watch Purrier compete. 

“I wouldn’t say it’s ‘Elle-Mania’ but there’s a number of people who are tremendously proud of her accomplishments,” Hathaway said.

In a town, according to Hathaway that sometimes gets looked down on by others, Montgomery has found a role model in Purrier.  

“I think she’s an inspiration to a number of kids,” Hathaway said. “There’s a kid who’s doing something.” 

While her accomplishments on the trails and track stand out the most, Purrier, a nutrition major, makes it a point to incorporate the message of empowerment into the sport of running. In the summer of 2015, she was awarded the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship where she spent five weeks in Italy with the “UNH in Italy program,” with a focus on Italian food and the Mediterranean diet. 

“It’s something I talk about with the teammates, you have to do what works for you,” she said. “Not getting caught up in what you look like and eating enough is a very import factor in competing long term.” 

Purrier won her third America East title Saturday and will look to defend her NCAA Northeast Regional crown Nov. 10 in Buffalo. And while the opportunity to win an NCAA cross country title is in her grasp come Nov. 18 in Kentucky, Purrier is going in with the same hard-working mentality she’s always had.

"I’m still a small-town girl, that really never goes away,” she said. “I’ve definitely been given a lot of opportunities though running and definitely changed since I’ve been in high school, but I’m still the same person.”