Weston Hill is proving that with dedication, the right terrain and a bit of Kiwi determination, anything is possible.

Balancing life as a mechanical design engineer, family farm worker and elite trail runner, Weston Hill has become the first Kiwi to join Merrell’s global performance team. This comes after Hill, 33, gained three New Zealand Trail Running national titles (2020, 2023 and 2025) and represented  Aotearoa multiple times at the Trail Running World Championships – no simple feat, given the growing sophistication of New Zealand’s trail running scene.

Hill grew up on the family farm in Upper Hutt, just a stone’s throw from the Tararua Range where tramping adventures with his family laid the foundation for his future success. 

“Dad’s a big tramper,” he says, “so mountains were our playground.” That foundation of navigating demanding terrain from the age of seven created what Hill calls “quite a good toolkit” for the challenges of international trail running. “The New Zealand bush is quite technical in some ways, and definitely gives you a good base for that outdoor toughness. The Southern Crossing’s a favourite tramp of mine, as is Rakiura Stewart Island.”

Sport flows deep in Hill’s family. His grandfather coached rugby for 20 years, and his uncle became an All Black. 

Despite this heritage, Hill’s running journey wasn’t always clear. Describing himself as a “sickly kid”, he says he struggled with the transition from primary to secondary school running. “I thought I was pretty good at primary school, but then I went to college and it was really competitive. I fell out of love with running at that point.” 

Instead, he turned to mountain-bike racing, before rediscovering his passion for running at the University of Canterbury. 

After completing his degree and working in consultancy, he made the decision to chase his running dreams more seriously. He embarked first on European racing summer seasons, then returned to work the New Zealand summers.

“I think there’s a perception in New Zealand that races like the Kepler Challenge are quite technical, but in reality, compared to races in Europe, it’s quite runnable,” he says. “If you want to race really steep, big, high mountain races in Europe, you need to train on that terrain.” 

When in New Zealand, Hill gravitates toward classics like Ben Lomond, Roy’s Peak and Breast Hill. “Even though they’re popular, they’re such good runs because they’re close to town but still proper mountains.”

His training consists of daily running, a couple of workouts and a long run each week. The key, he says, is specificity: training the quads for repeated downhills, developing confidence on rocky or rooty terrain, and building resistance to fatigue through hill repetitions.

Hill’s success coincides with trail running’s rapid evolution in New Zealand. “When I was at university, trail running wasn’t hugely competitive,” he says. “It’s massive now. Up to 40 Kiwis will compete at the mountain and trail running world championships this year.” 

Weston’s advancement to the global team means he receives support for travel. “I can focus on racing now, in the hope of being more competitive internationally. It’s really rewarding to work towards something and see the progression.”

As he prepares for the upcoming world championships in Spain, he recognises the realities of elite sport. “Sometimes when you’re really fit you can get sick unexpectedly because you’ve drunk water from a mountain creek while training, something you’ve done lots of times before,” he laughs. “You just put yourself in the best position you can, and if it doesn’t go quite the way you planned, that’s all part of it.”

For those inspired to follow his path, Hill advises getting out there and embracing the terrain. “New Zealand’s got so many different types of terrain and such varied weather that it’s a great base for trail running.”