Nikki Hiltz – This Is Me!

Carrie chats with trans and non-binary professional runner Nikki Hiltz! They chat about Nikki’s coming out story, using their voice to educate about the LGBTQ+ community, how they are running better than ever, the upcoming Pride 5K, getting a new coach and training partners, and much more!

Recorded August 31, 2022
Photo by Justin Hall

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Nikki Hiltz

Bio courtesy of Sir Walter Miler
Sponsor: lululemon
College: Oregon, Arkansas
Mile PR: 4:24.45

5 Things About Me: Nikki Hiltz
1. I have a German Shepherd puppy named Scout who is about to turn two on August 7th!
2. My partner and I put on a race every year called the Pride 5k that donates all proceeds to The Trevor Project, an organization providing suicide prevention services to LGBTQ+ youth. This year the race is Oct 2nd, everyone reading this should totally go sign up!
3. I’m from the small central coast surf town Santa Cruz California and I was on my junior high surf team.
4. My favorite movie is Mean Girls. I am constantly quoting it.
5. I am a global ambassador for the coolest brand in the world, lululemon!

5 Fast Questions
1. What’s something people should add to their Netflix queue? Formula One Drive to Survive
2. What’s your favorite sport or sporting event outside of running? Baseball
3. What’s your go-to pre-run meal or snack? Boring old oatmeal
4. Do you have any connections to Raleigh or North Carolina? My training partner Elly Henes is from the Raleigh area! Also last year’s Pride 5k city analytics showed that Raleigh had the second largest number of participants only behind San Diego!
5. One positive change I’ve seen in the sport in the past year is… I came out as trans non binary in the spring of 2021 and within the past year more and more people within the sport are getting my pronouns correct. It’s so cool that the people in this sport are willing to have conversations about gender identity and learn and unlearn in order to make trans people feel a little more safe and seen in this sport.