Articles by Ally Head, Senior Health and Sustainability Editor

Ally Head is Marie Claire UK's Senior Health and Sustainability Editor, a nine-time marathoner, and a Boston Qualifying runner. With nine years of editorial experience under her belt, she has a keen eye for a story, a passion for digital journalism, and is always innovating and pushing boundaries with how online content should be delivered to ensure her pillars are consistent top performers. Day-to-day, she manages a team of freelancers and works across site strategy, features, and e-commerce, overseeing all health and sustainability content, commissioning strategy, and reporting and effortlessly sustaining growth. She spearheads MC UK's yearly Women in Sport covers, interviewing and shooting athletes including Mary Earps, Millie Bright, Daryll Neita, and Lavaia Nielsen, and also oversees the brand's Start The Year Strong anti-fad January health campaign. She regularly hosts panels and presents for events such as the MC Sustainability Awards, alongside presenting for her two regular franchises, Decoded and Wellness Wins. The first is an Instagram franchise where she interviews fitness royalty, including the likes of Kayla Itsines, Jillian Michaels, and Doctor Julie Smith, in front of millions of followers, and her newest addition, Wellness Wins, shines a spotlight on the latest must-try wellness products that she's genuinely tried and loved. Before joining MC, she freelanced for the likes of Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Grazia, The Telegraph, Refinery29, Stylist, Good Housekeeping, and more. Prior to that, she was headhunted to lead digital strategy at Foodism. Her first ever journalism job was at Women's Health, where she worked for three years and headed up their nutrition content, cutting through the clean eating noise and enlisting qualified dieticians and nutritionists to give their take on everything from protein shakes to probiotic gut health supplements. Shortlisted for three BSME awards, she won one in 2022 for her work in the sustainability sphere and scooped a Future Editorial Excellence award in 2025, too. She has an MA in Magazine Journalism from City University and a BA in English Language from the University of Birmingham. While at Birmingham, she was Head of Marketing for student radio station Burn FM and Travel Editor at the student newspaper, Redbrick, winning Article of the Year for a long read about living in New York in 2015. When she's not writing, she's training for her next race or hunting down a good pastry. Follow Ally on Instagram for more.

Ally Head

Latest articles by Ally Head

I’m A Blemish-Prone Editor—But These 5 Tweaks Made Me More Skin-Confident Than Ever On My Wedding Day

As Editors Who Work Out All the Time, Trust Us—These Are the 10 Exercise Mats Worth Your Money

Eager To Beat Your Personal Best or Achieve a New Distance Goal? I Run Most Days – 11 Best Races To Book Now

We’re Fitness Editors Who’ve Spent Nine Years Testing for the Perfect Sports Bra – These 14 Get Our Vote

I’m a Female Health Doctor Who Spent Two Years Trying To Get a PCOS Diagnosis – 7 Things I've Learned About Advocating for Yourself

As her second book, Live To Eat, hits shelves: Em The Nutritionist shares the 7 life lessons she swears by

Easy Escapes: Keen to soak up the wellness-focused side of Ibiza? You can’t go wrong at Ocean Drive Talamanca

I'd never run a marathon before - six years on, I'm one of the UK's fastest female marathoners. Here's how I train every week

I've worked in the running industry for ten years - 15 things you need to know before running your first 26.2

We're hard to impress - but these 11 cycling shorts are, hands down, the best for sweaty summer workouts

Feeling inspired by the London Marathoners? Four experts share the exact formula for improving your running speed

Keen to know how to run for longer? 12 simple ways to make upping your mileage seem easy, according to the pros

I'm a 9x marathoner who likes looking and feeling their best. Enter: the functional but fashionable race day outfits I swear by

Micro shorts are every runner's must-wear RN - 8 top picks you'll wear on repeat

I used to hate running - but this type of training helped me run three sub-90-minute half marathons

As extremely fussy Health Editors, trust us - these 10 workout tops for women are the best money can buy

I'm the founder of an ethical brand marketplace - why, in the wake of tariff-gate, protecting independent businesses is more important than ever

Road To Recovery: I won't be making the London Marathon start line. But that doesn't mean the dream is dead

Sustainable activewear brands are a great way to make your workout more conscious - 14 to have on your radar

It's Emma Watson's favourite sustainable fashion platform - why you need to have Good On You on your radar

You’ve heard of greenwashing, but do you know how to spot - and stop - it happening?

Sustainable sports brands should be on your radar - 14 to invest in for a more conscious workout

Road To Recovery: I'm a Health Editor and marathon runner who’s long struggled to make recovery a habit - enter, my lazy girl's guide to R&R

B Corp brands: 35 to have on your radar to help you shop more sustainably

Sustainable living needn’t feel overwhelming - 43 ways to incorporate eco practices into your everyday

8 Gen Z climate activists to follow now that aren’t Greta Thunberg

I'm a Health Editor and marathon runner who's tested nearly 1000 pairs - my definitive pick of the best running shoes for women

The 90s diet culture that ruled my teens is regaining traction online - which is why embracing diverse body types is more important than ever

Introducing Global phenomenon, Olympic medallist and rugby icon Ilona Maher

Road To Recovery: As marathon training ramps up - 5 tips for maintaining motivation, from a 9x marathon runner