It’s July in Southwest Colorado, so that means some of the top ultramarathon runners in the world are ready to start the Hardrock 100 in Silverton on Friday morning.
If all goes to plan, the 31st running of the Hardrock 100 will start at 6 a.m. on Friday with 147 participants trying to complete the 102.5-mile loop with a total elevation change of 66,394 feet at an average elevation of 11,000 feet.
“We’re ready to go,” Hardrock 100 Race Director Dale Garland said. “The only thing that could possibly derail us at this point is a late thing of smoke moving into the area, or something like that.”
The big storyline around Colorado this summer, and for a historic event like this, has been the wildfires. Garland and the Hardrock 100 staff have had an eye on the air quality index and the weather in the mornings. It was smoky in Silverton earlier in the week, but Garland said it’s cleared up. He knew pretty early on that the Gold Mountain Fire wasn’t going to impact the course. The only thing that could change the race or cancel the race is the air quality, and that will be determined on Friday morning.
However, the air quality going in the right direction, along with some rain around Silverton recently and some warm conditions, so the staff is excited about the start. Garland believes with the lack of snow up in the San Juan Mountains and the caliber of runners in the field, records could be broken.
Every year, the course changes direction, and this year the course is going clockwise. Runners will go west from Silverton through Putnam Basin and KT before heading north through Chapman Gulch and Telluride. Runners will go northest through Governor Basin to Ouray, before heading southeast through Engineer Pass and Animas Forks.
Once runners get to Sherman, they will head south to Pole Creek before heading west through Maggie Gulch and Cunningham Gulch, finishing in Silverton. Garland said that if you brought 10 runners with Hardrock experience into a room and asked them which direction is harder to run the course, the room would be split.
“When we run in the counterclockwise direction, you have a long downhill into the finish,” Garland said. When we’re doing this way, you have a big uphill and then a sharp downhill to the finish. “It depends, I guess it depends on your running style, that kind of thing.”
This year, over 2,700 applicants from 63 foreign countries and 48 states. Garland said 78% of the applicants were men and 22% were women. The selection process comes from the lottery that is held on the first Saturday of December, according to Garland. Runners have to do one of the Hardrock’s 30 qualifying races around the world to apply for the lottery.
Then the lottery is broken down into four different lotteries. It’s broken down into male and female lotteries and then is broken down even more into men who have run the Hardrock before and men who haven’t. It’s the same breakdown for women.
Ultramarathon legend Courney Dauwalter is back in the field after missing last year’s event. There will not be a showdown between last year’s winner and record holder, Katie Schide, who had to pull out with injury. Despite Schide’s absence, the women’s field is still strong with Careth Arnold and Durango’s Tara Dower as two other names to watch.
On the men’s side, defending champion Ludovic Pommeret returns. Tom Evans, the 2025 winner of the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, should challenge Pommeret. Silverton’s own Jeff Rome and Cody Braford are in the race.
The Hardrock 100 staff are hoping to avoid another tragedy like last year when Elaine Stypula, 60, of Farmington Hills, Michigan, passed away on the trail. The Hardrock has had sweepers who follow the last runner to make sure everyone gets to the next aid station. The race must be completed in 48 hours.
“We haven’t changed any of our procedures, because we felt, after doing the debrief, we did everything about as good as you could do, given the terrain, and that kind of stuff,” Garland said. “We mobilized a pretty effective critical response team. We had a short response time to Elaine, considering where she was when she passed away.”
The entire course is open to the fans if anyone wants to hike and watch the runners in the San Juan Mountains. Garland asks that spectators respect other user groups and their right to recreate in their own way. The top finishers are expected to start finishing around 3 a.m. on Saturday.
At home, fans can follow the action on the livestream on the Hardrock website, hardrock100.com, or follow the satellite tracking on the website.