There was concern over the air quality from the nearby wildfires with the Hardrock 100 on Friday, but another race through the San Juan Mountains is in the books, with some familiar faces taking home titles.
Ultra trail running legends Ludovic Pommeret and Courtney Dauwalter captured the 2026 Hardrock 100 titles early on Saturday morning in Silverton after completing the 102.5-mile loop with a total elevation change of 66,394 feet at an average elevation of 11,000 feet. Pommeret, 50, from France, finished first out of 116 finishers in 21 hours, 11 minutes and 36 seconds. Dauwalter, 41, from Leadville, was fifth overall and the top woman, finishing in 26:03:10. Both runners broke the course records.
“The weekend went really well … we were monitoring the smoke, but it turned out to be not too much of a factor,” Hardrock 100 Race Director Dale Garland said. “When we started on Friday, it was good, and then it kind of devolved a little bit on Saturday afternoon … Saturday was really warm. That was as big a deal as the smoke was in a lot of ways. But the trails themselves were in really good condition.”
Despite the heat and threat of smoke, the finishing rate rose this year by about three points to 79%, according to Garland.
Pommeret definitely stands out amongst the finishers as he won his third consecutive Hardrock 100 on Saturday. One of Pommeret’s main competitors, Tom Evans from England, was comfortably second behind Pommeret after the first 30 miles. But Evans’ pace fell off toward the middle of the race and he dropped out after 58 miles due to altitude sickness.
This left Pommeret alone at the front as he increased his gap from minutes to hours by the time he completed the loop and finished in Silverton. Midway, Utah’s Jimmy Elam finished second in 23:48:56, and David Ayala finished third in 24:28:17.
Garland continues to be astounded by Pommeret’s performances at his age. Garland said Pommeret and Ned Overend are the two athletes he knows who don’t seem to be limited by their age.
Dauwalter didn’t have as much competition on the women’s side as Pommeret was supposed to have with Evans, especially with 2025 winner Katie Schide out with injury. She led by 10 minutes after 11 miles and by an hour at the halfway point. Careth Arnold from Paonia, Colorado, finished second in the women’s standings in 30:32:31 after struggling with her pace early. Dauwalter won her fourth Hardrock 100, but didn’t forget about the fans who traveled to cheer her on.
“She finished, and she said she wanted to get inside,” Garland said about Dauwalter. “Where we set up our medical recovery area is kind of the far end of the Silverton gym, where they have to walk through the gym. She did that, and before she took a break, I bet she signed seven or eight autographs and talked with little kids. She spent time with people who had waited a long time to see her.”
The top Durango finisher in the overall and women’s standings was Tara Dower, who was 14th overall and third in the women’s race in 33:02:04. It was an impressive finish for Dower, 32, especially since she ran the Western States 100-mile race two weeks before.
Telluride’s Nick Coury finished seventh in 29:53:39. Garland said Coury is known for wearing road racing shoes on the trail and for starting off slow and increasing his speed. This year, Coury had good pace from the beginning, according to Garland.
Other top Durango finishers were Jason Schlarb in 19th and David Golden in 28th. Silverton’s Cody Bradford and Jeff Rome didn’t finish.