A Vermont Runner Takes Her Show on the Road

Elle Purrier St. Pierre is a local celebrity. But her talent is taking her all over the world. Next stop, Tokyo?

MONTGOMERY, Vt. — When Elle Purrier St. Pierre was collecting state championships as a high school runner in the upper reaches of rural Vermont, she would join her teammates on jogs with an international flair. They would approach the Quebec border and stick their hands under the fence so they could say they had touched Canada, a modest taste of adventure for a group of small-town athletes. Purrier St. Pierre, 26, has since emerged onto the global stage, smashing the national record for the indoor mile while setting her sights on competing in the 1,500 meters at this summer’s Tokyo Olympics. Her chance to qualify will come at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in Eugene, Ore., where preliminary heats for the 1,500-meter are Friday, with the final scheduled for Monday. Three spots are up for grabs. Yet even as she goes about establishing herself as one of American running’s rising stars, Purrier St. Pierre remains a self-described homebody. She lives with her husband, Jamie St. Pierre, who was her high school sweetheart, at the end of a long gravel road a few miles from her childhood home. She grew up on a dairy farm where she would head to the barn before school each morning to milk about 40 cows. She and her now-husband rode a tractor to the prom.