The 2024 Hardrock 100 kicks off on Friday, July 12, with the 146 fortunate runners having 48 hours to finish the mountainous loop by Colorado’s San Juan Mountains.
Beginning within the tiny village of Silverton, the route alternates path yearly and, this 12 months, is headed clockwise towards Telluride, onward to Ouray, and towards Lake Metropolis, earlier than returning to Silverton. Alongside the way in which, the runners will climb greater than 33,000 ft (10,000 meters) at a median elevation of roughly 11,000 ft (3,350 meters) and a excessive level of 14,058 ft (4,284 meters). The course at the moment traverses 102.5 miles.
With the doable exception of small sections, the course ought to be comparatively snow-free on race day. An around-average snowpack over the winter and a moist begin to the summer time ought to imply loads of water shall be discovered alongside the course.
This 12 months’s girls’s discipline shall be headlined by Courtney Dauwalter, who owns the ladies’s course report in each of the course’s instructions. Her largest competitors for the win will come from Europe within the type of Germany’s Katharina Hartmuth and France’s Camille Bruyas, each of whom have completed second behind Dauwalter at UTMB throughout the previous three years.
As with the ladies, there’s a favourite on the lads’s aspect in François D’Haene, because the Frenchman has run two of the three quickest instances in Hardrock historical past in his two runnings of the race. Nonetheless, you possibly can by no means rely out Zach Miller, particularly as final 12 months, when he positioned second at UTMB, he ran it sooner than D’Haene ever has. Then there’s Ludovic Pommeret of France, who stunned so many along with his win at UTMB in 2016 however now would shock nobody with yet one more prime end.
Each clockwise course information have been set in 2022, the final time the race was run on this 12 months’s path, when Dauwalter ran 26:44:36 and Kilian Jornet ran 21:36:24. Jornet’s time stays the lads’s general race report whereas Dauwalter bettered her general girls’s mark in operating 26:14:12 final 12 months within the counterclockwise path.
Forward of the race, we’ll publish interviews with a number of the race favorites and, after all, we’ll be overlaying the race reside beginning at 6 a.m. U.S. MDT on Friday, July 12. Take pleasure in!
Thanks a lot to Tailwind for sponsoring iRunFar’s protection of the 2024 Hardrock 100!
Thanks additionally to Fractel for sponsoring our race protection.
Nightfall on the climb up Engineer Cross in the course of the 2023 Hardrock 100. Picture: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
2024 Hardrock 100 Girls’s Preview
Courtney Dauwalter
With Courtney Dauwalter again within the race, it appears hers to lose. It’s powerful to condense her lengthy record of laurels and laudits, however right here goes. Right here at Hardrock, Dauwalter set the clockwise course report two years in the past by operating 26:44 and, then, set the counterclockwise course report of 26:14 final 12 months. Or, final 12 months one other manner, she set course information on the Western States 100 and Hardrock 100, and gained UTMB, all within the span of two months. That’s acquired to be in consideration for the perfect girls’s path ultrarunning season ever. This 12 months, Dauwalter’s already gained Transgrancanaria and the Mt. Fuji 100 Mile. However, as all the time, there’s a purpose they run the race!
Katharina Hartmuth
Germany’s Katharina Hartmuth is excessive on the quick record of girls on the earth who can run near Dauwalter at such occasions. Final 12 months, she was second to Dauwalter by 40 minutes at UTMB. That was a part of Hartmuth’s stellar 2023 marketing campaign wherein she additionally took fourth at Transgrancanaria, positioned second on the Path Working World Championships – Lengthy Path in Austria, and gained the Eiger Extremely-Path 100k. A 12 months earlier, the German additionally gained the Eiger Extremely-Path 100k and took third at TDS. Thus far this 12 months, Hartmuth was seventh at Transvulcania and lately gained the Path 100 Andorra by a big margin. Hartmuth arrived to Silverton with about three weeks to acclimate to the excessive altitude, however has stated on social media that she’s rigorously nursing an damage in the mean time.
Camille Bruyas
Like Hartmuth, France’s Camille Bruyas has taken second behind Dauwalter at UTMB, having executed so again in 2021. Previously couple years, she’s taken tenth on the 2022 Western States 100, gained the 2022 Les Templiers and 2022 Extremely-Path Cape City 100k, and been second on the 2023 Diagonale des Fous. Thus far this 12 months, Bruyas has gained the Penyagolosa CSP 106k and the Volvic Volcanic Expertise 110k relay. Like Hartmuth, Bruyas would profit vastly from a number of weeks of acclimation forward of Hardrock, the place Dauwalter has the benefit of residing at 10,200 ft (over 3,000 meters). Certainly, Bruyas could have spent three weeks within the U.S. earlier than race day.
Claire Bannwarth
Having taken fifth no less than 12 months’s Hardrock, France’s Claire Bannwarth is the second-highest girl’s finisher getting back from final 12 months’s discipline after Dauwalter. Bannwarth is a racing fiend, pinning on a quantity at seemingly as many and as lengthy of races as she will discover. solely her 11 outcomes listed on UTMB.World from 2023, she raced 1,612 miles. Amongst these finishes have been a win on the Winter Backbone Race, a seventh at Transgrancanaria, and general win on the Tahoe 200 Mile, and a sixteenth at UTMB. As of mid-June 2024, she’s already raced no less than 1,017 miles this 12 months, once more successful the Winter Backbone Race, taking third on the Istria 100 Mile, inserting fourth on the Madeira Island Extremely-Path, and taking second on the Tahoe 200 Mile.
It seems that coastal Virginia’s Tara Dower is toeing the road at Hardrock barely three years into her ultrarunning journey, however don’t let that quick extremely profession idiot you. Dower has completed no less than eight 100-mile races in that point, together with taking second on the Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile in 2022 earlier than successful in 2023. Already this 12 months, she’s been seventh on the Black Canyon 100k and gained the Umstead 100 Mile outright in 14:58. She completed final 12 months with a fourth-place, 6:51 run on the JFK 50 Mile. Final 12 months, Dower additionally set a then girls’s supported FKT on the Colorado Path, so she’s acquainted with the excessive alpine terrain of the San Juan Mountains.
Canada’s Claire Heslop should use ultrarunning as a purpose to journey the world, as her outcomes web page seemingly has extra flags than the United Nations. One spot she does maintain returning to is UTMB, the place she’s completed 18th, nineteenth, and, then, eleventh over the previous three years, bettering her instances from 32:12 to 30:38 to twenty-eight:05 alongside the way in which. Heslop was third at Penyagolosa CSP 106k in 2022 and 14th at Transgrancanaria final 12 months. Earlier this 12 months, she was third on the Tenerife Bluetrail 110k.
Once I consider Yitka Winn, I first consider her stint as an affiliate editor at “Path Runner Journal” —and writing a bit for iRunFar — a decade in the past. Nonetheless, she’s turn out to be fairly the runner, successful the Cascade Crest 100 Mile in 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2023. Final 12 months, she additionally took tenth on the Gorge Waterfalls 100k and third on the Orcas Island 50k. Whereas she’s not run a big-mountain 100 miler shortly, she has expertise in them, in addition to in racing within the San Juan Mountains.
From simply down the hill in Durango, Maggie Guterl is again on this 12 months’s Hardrock, having taken eleventh in 2022. Guterl is probably finest identified for successful the 2019 Huge Canine’s Yard Extremely and the 2021 Cocodona 250 Mile. Whereas she’s struggled with lengthy occasions at excessive altitude previously and battles an Achilles damage, she’ll have spent as a lot time on the course this 12 months as any girl you possibly can anticipate to see towards the entrance of the race. She was additionally eighth on the 2022 Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile.
Maggie Guterl in the course of the 2022 Hardrock 100. She’s again on the roster for 2024. Picture: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
Extra Girls to Watch
- Becky Bates (Canada) – seventh 2023 Hardrock 100; twenty second 2022 TDS; eighth 2022 Excessive Lonesome 100 Mile
- Serena Eley – third 2023 Grindstone 100 Mile
- Emily Halnon – ninth 2023 & seventh 2022 Hardrock 100
- Jordan Maki-Richards (U.S., residing in Australia) – 4th 2022 Cascade Crest 100 Mile; 4th 2024 & 1st 2023 Buffalo Stampede 100k
- Amber Weibel – fifteenth 2022 Western States 100; third 2023 Swiss Alps 100 Mile; 4th 2021 Excessive Lonesome 100 Mile
Notable Withdrawals
Claire Bannwarth (left) and Annie Hughes share early miles within the 2023 Hardrock 100. Bannwarth returns in 2024. Picture: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
2024 Hardrock 100 Males’s Preview
François D’Haene
It’s laborious to wager in opposition to latest success at Hardrock. That’s why France’s François D’Haene is probably going the favourite heading into this 12 months’s Hardrock 100. D’Haene is definitely among the many prime three males at lengthy, mountainous ultras over the previous decade with wins at UTMB, Diagonale des Fous, Extremely-Path Mount Fuji, Madeira Island Extremely-Path (MIUT), and plenty of extra. Up right here in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains, D’Haene gained the 2021 Hardrock in a counterclockwise course report of 21:45 earlier than being edged out by Kilian Jornet to take second in 2022 in 21:51. That provides the Frenchman two of the three quickest instances at Hardrock. He doesn’t but have is a win within the clockwise path, which the course shall be run this 12 months. D’Haene was eighth at Diagonale des Fous final autumn and fifth on the Path 100 Andorra in mid-June of this 12 months.
Zach Miller
Whereas D’Haene could have two spectacular finishes within the San Juans, Zach Miller’s spent loads of time in these mountains through the years. After a few years of battling accidents, he bounced again into long-distance kind in 2023, successful the Tarawera 100 Mile, taking sixth Path Working World Championships – Lengthy Path in Austria, and, then, taking second to Jim Walmsley at UTMB. Again in February, Miller took seventh at Transgrancanaria. Little question, Miller and his bus could have been stationed excessive within the Colorado Rockies effectively forward of race day.
Ludovic Pommeret
I’m excited that France’s Ludovic Pommeret could have spent almost a month in Silverton earlier than this 12 months’s Hardrock. It’s laborious to not root for a man who’s shortly approaching 50 years outdated and continues to be on prime of his recreation. Nowadays, UTMB is definitely essentially the most aggressive path ultramarathon on the planet. In 2021, Ludo took fourth there, and, final 12 months, he positioned fifth. In between, he gained TDS in 2022. Oh, and he gained Diagonale des Fous in 2021.
Diego Pazos
Earlier than diving into his outcomes, I used to be tempted to say that Switzerland’s Diego Pazos has slowed a bit in recent times, however that’s not the case! Wanting again at his UTMB finishes, he was eleventh in 2014 in 23:11, seventh in 23:00 in 2021, and twenty fourth in 23:17 in 2023, with the 2 latter races being on longer, slower programs than that from 2014. So, I believe we are able to affirm that Pazos has one high-quality chronometer!
Jason Schlarb
Based mostly in Durango, Colorado, Jason Schlarb tied with Kilian Jornet for the win on the 2016 Hardrock 100 earlier than DNFing the next 12 months. Nonetheless, he blew his ACL snowboarding in February 2021, and whereas capable of totally practice once more, his operating hasn’t reached the degrees from earlier than the damage. Again in 2022, Schlarb was eighth on the Eiger Extremely-Path and 51st at UTMB in 25:30. Thus far this 12 months, he’s been twenty second at MIUT and gained an area 50k.
Jeff Rome
Though he lives all of two blocks away from the beginning of Hardrock, Silverton’s personal Jeff Rome stays a whole wildcard for this 12 months’s race. Earlier than he moved to city, he was seventh man in 2017 earlier than shifting as much as take second in 26:34 in 2018. Extra of an adventurer than a racer, Rome did run effectively ultimately 12 months’s close by San Juan Solstice 50 Mile earlier than taking thirteenth on the IMTUF 100 Mile in September. If he’s caught one other case of Hardrock fever, he might as soon as once more shock lots of people.
Solidly within the Regular Eddy camp, I’ll be stunned if Colorado’s Paul Terranova doesn’t no less than match his sixth-place males’s end from final 12 months’s Hardrock. Certainly, he’s the highest returning man from final 12 months’s occasion. Terranova ran Hardrock final 12 months as a part of the Rocky Mountain Slam, wherein he additionally completed sixth on the Leadville 100 Mile, fourth on the Wasatch Entrance 100 Mile, and ninth on the Bear 100 Mile. In 2022, he was fourth on the Bighorn 100 Mile.
Jeff Rome takes second on the 2018 Hardrock 100 in a end dash. The Silverton, Colorado, native is racing once more this 12 months. Picture: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Extra Males to Watch
- Nick Coury – seventh 2022 Hardrock 100; 1st 2024 Zane Gray 50 Mile; 4th 2021 Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile
- Karl Meltzer – third 2024 Antelope Island 100 Mile; 4th 2023 Pine to Palm 100 Mile
- Luke Jay – 2nd 2022 Excessive Lonesome 100 Mile; seventh 2023 Telluride Mountain Run 40 Mile
- Mick Jurynec – ninth 2021 Hardrock 100; tenth 2023 Bear 100 Mile
- Michael Owen – third 2024, 1st 2023, 1st 2022, 1st 2021, 1st 2019 & 1st 2017 Promised Land 50k; 1st 2023 Merciless Jewel 50 Mile
- Kris Tyson – 2nd 2021 Merciless Jewel 100 Mile; sixth 2023 Cascade Crest 100 Mile
Males with a Likelihood for Final-Minute Entry
- Joel Anderson (2nd By no means waitlist) – thirteenth 2023 & 14th 2021 Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile; sixth 2021 San Juan Solstice 50 Mile
Into the archives on this one! Right here’s Xavier Thévenard main Jason Schlarb and Kilian Jornet early within the 2016 Hardrock 100. Schlarb and Jornet would tie that 12 months. Schlarb is again for 2024. Picture: iRunFar/Marissa Harris
Name for Feedback
- Who do you suppose would be the first girl and first man to complete?
- Who do you suppose will shock everybody at this 12 months’s Hardrock?
François D’Haene on his strategy to setting a course report on the 2021 Hardrock 100. Picture: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
