The Hardrock 100 is an ultramarathon of 102.5 miles in length, with the first edition taking place in 1992.
It’s a “salute to the toughness and perseverance of the Hardrock miners who lived and worked in the area”.
It starts and finishes in Silverton, Colorado and features 33,197 feet of climb and exactly the same amount of descent given the looped nature of the course, with the direction switching each year.
In 2025 it will be run will be in an anti-clockwise direction.
There are 146 prized places each year and the respective fields are headed by two ultrarunning stars – reigning UTMB winner Katie Schide for the women and defending Hardrock champion Ludovic Pommeret for the men.
It all gets under way at 6am local time on Friday 11 July, which is 8am Eastern Time, 1pm in the UK and 2pm CET.
There are various ways to follow the race unfold including live GPS tracking and live aid station splits.
There will be a live broadcast throughout too which will be streamed on YouTube via the excellent Mountain Outpost team which is embedded below – note the three different sections which should cover all the podium finishers.
Hardrock 100 Endurance Run
start list
The full start lists are here.
In the absence of reigning champ Courtney Dauwalter, it’s her great rival and fellow American Katie Schide who looks the one to beat.
Schide has never raced Hardrock before but she and partner Germain Grangier have been doing plenty of recce work in the last month.
Indeed the French-based athlete has been in the US since mid-May, which underlines how big a target this is.
The only blip in training was a fall when she banged her knee and required stitches but she says things are very much back on track.
Last year’s record-breaking Tor des Géants winner Katharina Hartmuth looks like one of her biggest rivals.
However this is her first race since Tor des Géants because of some injury issues and she says of her prep for this race: “I was operating along a very fine line between doing everything I can and doing too much given I couldn’t run for almost two months.”
The Swiss-based German star was third at Hardrock 12 months ago and was also runner-up to the GOAT Courtney Dauwalter in her historic 2023 triumph at UTMB.
Canadian Stephanie Case is a fascinating contender too. She was second at Hardrock in 2022 but then had a spell out of the sport to start a family.
But she made a remarkable return – and made headlines around the world – when she returned in May to win the Ultra-Trail Snowdonia 100k despite not starting with the elites and breastfeeding her daughter Pepper during the race.
For the men, Ludo Pommeret definitely won’t go under the radar this year.
Ahead of turning 50 later this month, the Frenchman is set to be helped by a couple of stellar pacers in the shape of the last two UTMB winners, Vincent Bouillard and Jim Walmsley!
It looks a packed men’s field though, with the likes of Zach Miller, Mathieu Blanchard and Germain Grangier all holding strong claims.
Miller’s appearance at Hardrock is particularly welcome after he was forced out just before last year’s race because of appendicitis.
Notable runners
Route
The Hardrock 100 passes through what organisers describe as “some of the most beautiful and rugged mountains in the world”.
Starting from and finishing at Silverton, the 102.5 miles see the altitude range from 7,700 to 14,048 feet which can mean that snow is an issue in some years.
Four legs link the Lake City, Ouray, Telluride, and Silverton areas and there are 14 aid stations en route.
Runners are warned to steer clear of elk in the high meadows, especially if they are with their young while black bears and mountain lions may also be encountered!
Record times and recent winners
The fastest Hardrock 100 times for the clockwise route were both set in 2024 by Ludovic Pommeret (21:33:06) and the GOAT Courtney Dauwalter (26:11:47).
The counter-clockwise records – so applicable this year – are held by François D’Haene (21:45:50 from 2021) and Dauwalter (26:14:08 from 2023).
Recent winners:
2015: Men: Kilian Jornet (ESP) – 23:28:10, Women: Anna Frost (NZL) – 28:22:56
2016: Men: Kilian Jornet (ESP) and Jason Schlarb (USA) – 22:58:28, Women: Anna Frost (NZL) – 29:02:03
2017- Men: Kilian Jornet (ESP) – 24:32:19, Women: Caroline Chaverot (FRA) – 28:31:50
2018– Men: Kilian Jornet (ESP) – 24:08:04, Women: Sabrina Stanley (USA) – 28:45:51
2019- Race did not occur due to weather
2020- race did not occur due to COVID
2021- Men: Francois D’Haene (FRA) – 21:45:50, Women: Kaytlyn Gerbin (USA) – 28:31:48
2022- Men: Kilian Jornet (ESP) – 21:36:24, Women: Courtney Dauwalter (USA) – 26:44:36
2023- Men: Aurelian Dunand-Pallaz (FRA) 23:00:07, Women: Courtney Dauwalter (USA) – 26:14:08
2024- Men: Ludovic Pommeret (FRA) 21:33:06, Women: Courtney Dauwalter (USA) – 26:11:47
Past winners
Tab 2 content.
![Katharina Hartmuth at the Tor des Géants [Photo credit: Tor des Géants press office | Stefano Coletta - Zzam Agency]](https://run247.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Katharina-Hartmuth-Tor-des-Geants-2024-912x720.jpg)
