It was, Ludovic Pommeret (pre-race and post-race interviews) said, a dream when he kissed the rock at the end of the 2024 Hardrock 100. He finished his lap around the San Juan Mountains of Colorado with a new overall course record of 21:33:06, breaking Kilian Jornet’s previous record, set in 2022, by just over three minutes. Pommeret, a 48-year-old Frenchman, led almost wire-to-wire in a commanding fashion.
“I dream all the day,” Pommeret said at the iconic rock-kissing finish just past 3:30 a.m. local time on Saturday, July 13, 2024. “The nightmare never came.”
Neither did it come for the women’s winner Courtney Dauwalter (pre-race and post-race interviews), who seems to redefine what is possible in ultrarunning every time she toes the line. Dauwalter won the women’s race in 26:11:49, setting a new overall women’s course record, breaking her own mark of 26:14:12 set last year as the second race of her historic Western States 100-Hardrock 100-UTMB triple. That means Dauwalter, who also led essentially wire-to-wire, has set a course record the past three times she’s run and owns the fastest three women’s times.
Courtney Dauwalter early in the 2024 Hardrock 100, on her way to a third victory at this race in course-record time. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
But before the two champions got back to the rock, there was a lot of running to do. At 6 a.m. local time on Friday, July 12, 146 runners set off in the predawn darkness under the watchful gaze of the San Juan Mountains in Silverton, Colorado, to begin one of the most famous, arduous, and scenically stunning 100-mile races in the world.
The Hardrock 100, famous for its difficulty and selectiveness, is a 102.5-mile trek featuring more than 33,000 feet of elevation gain and an average elevation of 11,000 feet through the rugged San Juans. It alternates directions every year, and this year’s race went clockwise. Starting in the small mining town of Silverton, runners made their way to Telluride before continuing on to Ouray and near Lake City and then returned to Silverton to kiss the iconic rock. The course, often impacted by snow, was mostly snow-free this year, and temperatures vacillated between sub-40 degrees and 80 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the day and night.
“It’s 100 miles. It’s huge mountains. It’s altitude,” Dauwalter said in her pre-race interview with iRunFar. “So, adventure is guaranteed for sure.”
Read on for more details about that adventure.
Thank you so much to Tailwind for sponsoring iRunFar’s coverage of the 2024 Hardrock 100!
Thanks also to Fractel for sponsoring our race coverage.
2024 Hardrock 100 Women’s Race
Entering the race, it was fair to wonder what drove Courtney Dauwalter (pre-race and post-race interviews) to return to the event again. Over the past two years, she’d won twice and set course records in both directions. But she was back, she said during her pre-race interview with iRunFar, because she still felt that she had left something on the course.
“I am back because all of my runs here have had just really significant chunks of time that were spent in very low places,” she said. “I would love to try to smooth out those lows just a little bit, and see if I can get around that course without having so many huge hours.” And while she struggled with stomach issues for some of the second half of the run, she still reset the overall course record, breaking her previous clockwise record by more than 30 minutes.
Dauwalter, who won the Transgrancanaria 126k and the Mt. Fuji 100 Mile already this year, is so consistently dominant that her wins in major ultras can seem like a foregone conclusion. But Hardrock is never easy, and she still had to cover the 100-plus miles and 33,000-plus feet of elevation gain. Once again, she did it faster than any woman ever had before her, including herself.
Katharina Hartmuth and Courtney Dauwalter enjoying the early miles of the 2024 Hardrock 100. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
France’s Camille Bruyas (pre-race and post-race interviews) and Germany’s Katharina Hartmuth (pre-race and post-race interviews) posed the biggest challenges to Dauwalter. Both had finished second by Dauwalter at UTMB in 2021 and 2023, respectively, and both had spent the last few weeks in the U.S. acclimating to the high elevations and learning the terrain. While Dauwalter had opened a small gap on Bruyas at the Kamm Traverse aid station (mile 11) and maintained it through Chapman at mile 18, by Telluride at mile 28, Bruyas had closed the gap and came through in the co-lead with Dauwalter, two minutes under course record pace.
Dauwalter slowly began to pull away — five minutes up at Kroger’s Canteen at mile 33 and six minutes by Ouray at mile 44 — before making a strong move to increase her lead over Bruyas to 31 minutes by mile 52. At that point, just over halfway, it was Dauwalter, followed by Bruyas, Hartmuth, Tara Dower (pre-race interview), and France’s Claire Bannwarth rounding out the top five.
Katharina Hartmuth runs into the town of Ouray on her way to taking third at the 2024 Hardrock 100. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
From there, Dauwalter continued to run alone. Smiling and moving swiftly in a bright yellow shirt, she was 18 minutes under course-record pace by Animas Forks aid station at mile 58, making quick work of the aid station and picking up her pacer.
One of the few signs of fatigue she showed all race was at the Sherman aid station at mile 73, after climbing and descending from Handies Peak, the course’s high point at 14,058 feet. She stayed for five minutes to rest and refuel before running on into the dark. By Maggie Gulch at mile 87, she was nearly an hour under course-record pace and looked strong. Six miles later, at Cunningham Gulch, she picked up her husband as her pacer as they made their way up and over the final climb.
Less than three hours later and now in the early-morning sun, Dauwalter returned to the rock, and kissed it once more.
Behind her, Hartmuth, who was nursing a bruised sacrum from a fall three weeks prior, had closed the gap on Bruyas during the mid-race miles to as little as 13 minutes by Sherman at mile 73. Eye issues slowed Hartmuth later in the race, causing blurry vision and slow movement, and Bruyas doubled her lead by Pole Creek at mile 81. Bruyas took an 18-minute stop at the Maggie Gulch aid station at mile 87 to refuel and get warm, while Hartmuth, who was also feeling the miles, also took an extended break.
Camille Bruyas running into the town of Ouray, before the halfway point of the 2024 Hardrock 100. After helping to push the pace for the lead for over 40 miles, she’d go on to take second place. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Camille Bruyas battled through the rest of the race to finish second in 29:28:11, and Hartmuth, after a long stop at Cunningham Gulch (mile 93) to get warm under a blanket and deal with her deteriorating vision, finished third in 30:29:12.
The race for the top five behind them was perhaps the closest of the day. After saying she had thrown up eight times, Dower, just three years into her ultrarunning career, battled to catch up to Bannwarth by Maggie Gulch at mile 87. Bannwarth, who was visibly struggling, fell off the pace, while Dower flew along in pursuit of a spot in the top five.
Tara Dower at the 2024 Hardrock 100. After a strong first half, she struggled with her stomach over the course high point on Handies Peak, but got her stomach back and rallied into fourth place with a late-race surge. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
By Cunningham Gulch at mile 93, the three women in contention for positions three through five — Yitka Winn, Emily Halnon, and Dower — were separated by only 16 minutes. All three made short stops at the aid station before continuing.
Between Cunningham Gulch and the final descent at mile 97, Halnon made a move. She passed Winn to move into fourth place, making up more than 20 minutes in less than six miles. Dower, meanwhile, put in a huge move of her own on the rocky final descent and also passed Winn, with the gap growing visibly in a very short distance.
Therein, perhaps, lies the beauty of Hardrock and ultras in general: After almost 100 miles of racing, the battle for the top five came down to two moves made on the final descent and the final rolling miles into the streets of Silverton. In the end, Tara Dower held onto fourth in 33:10:55, Yitka Winn finished fifth in 33:17:00, and Emily Halnon came in looking absolutely ecstatic in sixth with a time of 33:24:22.
Emily Halnon during the 2024 Hardrock 100. She would finish sixth place in a joyful and hard-fought women’s race. Photo: iRunFar/Alex Angstadt
2024 Hardrock 100 Women’s Results
- Courtney Dauwalter (Salomon) – 26:11:49 (pre-race and post-race interviews)
- Camille Bruyas (Salomon) – 29:28:11 (pre-race and post-race interviews)
- Katharina Hartmuth (Hoka) – 30:29:12 (pre-race and post-race interviews)
- Tara Dower (Altra Running) – 33:10:55 (pre-race interview)
- Yitka Winn – 33:17:00
- Emily Halnon – 33:24:22
- Becky Bates – 36:00:26
- Claire Bannwarth – 36:13:33
- Amber Weibel – 36:26:49
- Claire Heslop – 37:10:19
Camille Bruyas taking second at the 2024 Hardrock 100. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
2024 Hardrock 100 Men’s Race
The first significant news in the men’s field came a week before the race began. American Zach Miller, who was second in last year’s UTMB and had put in a monster training block in preparation for Hardrock, was among the favorites, but did not race following an emergency appendectomy on July 5. Ever the optimist and making the most of a disappointing situation, Miller spent part of Saturday morning making his patented donuts for fans.
Along with Miller, France’s François D’Haene (pre-race interview) was expected to contend for the win, even if he had been coming back from injury and not feeling 100% leading up to race day due to an illness a few weeks ahead of time. D’Haene, one of the best runners in the world at long mountainous ultras, set the counter-clockwise course record for the win in 2021 before placing second behind Kilian Jornet in 2022 in the clockwise direction. Entering the race, D’Haene had two of the fastest three times in race history.
From right to left, it’s Ludo Pommeret, François D’Haene, and Diego Pazos in the early miles of the 2024 Hardrock 100. Pommeret and Pazos would finish one-two, while D’Haene would be forced to drop after midway. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
And while Ludovic Pommeret (pre-race and post-race interviews) was certainly expected to be among the top contenders this year, it’s probably fair to say he was not the favorite. But once the race began, the Frenchman made his intentions clear.
Pommeret, who was running his first full Hardrock after pacing for last year’s winner Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz, arrived in Silverton on June 14 and completed two laps of the course as multi-day trips, otherwise known as Softrocks, as part of a month-long training block to acclimatize to the altitude and mountains. That fitness and preparation were clear from the moment the race began when Pommeret led a pack of runners, including D’Haene, Jason Schlarb (post-race interview), and Switzerland’s Diego Pazos (pre-race and post-race interviews) through the Rainbow Trail at mile 1.5.
François D’Haene in the early miles of the 2024 Hardrock 100. A pre-race favorite, he had to retire after the halfway point due to physical issues from a recent illness. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
At Kamm Traverse (mile 11), Pommeret, D’Haene, and Pazos all came through in the lead together. By mile 28, when Pommeret entered Telluride in 5:34 elapsed, he was two minutes below course-record pace, with D’Haene 2.5 minutes behind him.
Then began the famous 4,300-foot ascent to Kroger’s Canteen aid station, which sits at 13,100 feet above sea level at mile 33. Pommeret came through in the lead again, smiling and drinking Coke before leaving after only a minute. D’Haene was still close behind, and Schlarb — who tied Jornet for the win at Hardrock in 2016 and has been recovering from a torn ACL from a skiing accident two years ago — came through in third, 32 minutes off the lead. “It’s hard to feel good up here,” Schlarb said, drinking only water and leaving quickly. Pazos, who has several strong finishes at UTMB, came across the iconic pass four minutes behind Schlarb.
Jason Schlarb running strong into Chapman aid station, 18 miles into the 2024 Hardrock 100. He would ultimately take third place. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
It was on the descent to Ouray that Pommeret began to open up a gap. By Ouray (mile 44), the gap to D’Haene, who began to show signs of fatigue on a hot, humid section of the course, was 23 minutes. It was a stark contrast to Pommeret, who looked as smooth as ever. At just over the halfway mark (mile 52), the top four men were Pommeret, D’Haene at 62 minutes off the lead, Schlarb just two minutes behind him, and Pazos a further 11 minutes back.
By Animas Forks at mile 58, Pommeret had increased his lead to 1 hour and 24 minutes, and Schlarb, despite puking, and Pazos had passed D’Haene, who was sadly in tears at the aid station. D’Haene dropped from the race soon after, saying, “You don’t know if you don’t play.” He was clearly still feeling the after-effects of an illness just 10 days prior.
Pommeret continued cruising. He looked smooth and efficient at the next several aid stations, refueling quickly before continuing his record day. At the Sherman aid station at mile 73, now 22 minutes ahead of course-record pace, Pommeret was animated and sprinted away after a three-minute stop, less than 20 miles from history.
Almost exactly seven hours later — after three more characteristically short stops at the remaining aid stations — Pommeret made history, running the final few steps in the cold dark before hugging the rock that had awaited him for the past 21-plus hours. He was officially a Hardrock champion and course-record holder.
Pommeret’s win is a testament to his longevity: He ran his first UTMB 20 years ago, won it in 2016, and now, eight years later, has won Hardrock. Both D’Haene and Miller were at the finish line to congratulate the new champion.
After D’Haene dropped, the battle for second was between Schlarb and Pazos. Schlarb was in front by 13 minutes at mile 62.5, but Pazos looked determined to reel him in. By Sherman at mile 73, Schlarb reported that he had been cramping for most of the race, while Pazos, who quietly devoured a cup of noodles, had cut into his lead.
Diego Pazos at the Maggie Gulch aid station, mile 87, not long after moving into second place at the 2024 Hardrock 100, a position he’d hold until the finish. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Fourteen miles later at Maggie Gulch (mile 87), Pazos still looked strong and had passed Schlarb, who said he was battling nausea and getting in his nutrition. Pazos had turned a nine-minute deficit into a six-minute lead. That order would remain until the finish, with Diego Pazos taking second in 24:39:33 and Jason Schlarb coming in third in 24:48:13.
Jeff Rome, the second-place finisher in 2018 who lives just blocks away from the start of the race and was quoting J.R.R. Tolkien at aid stations, ran an extremely consistent second half of the race to claim fourth, while Brian Peterson took fifth after emerging from a crowded back half of the men’s top 10 over the last 25 miles. His time was 29:36:04.
Silverton, Colorado’s hometown hero Jeff Rome, on his way to taking fourth at the 2024 Hardrock 100. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
2024 Hardrock 100 Men’s Results
- Ludovic Pommeret (Hoka) – 21:33:08 (pre-race and post-race interviews)
- Diego Pazos (Compressport) – 24:39:36 (pre-race and post-race interviews)
- Jason Schlarb (Norda/Ultimate Direction) – 24:48:18 (post-race interview)
- Jeff Rome – 26:30:59
- Brian Peterson – 29:36:08
- Paul Terranova – 29:58:10 (pre-race interview)
- Nick Coury (Aravaipa Running) – 30:34:18
- Andy Vermilyea – 31:02:13
- Benjamin Bucklin – 31:07:47
- Luke Jay – 32:51:48
The men’s podium of the 2024 Hardrock 100 (left-to-right): 2. Diego Pazos, 1. Ludo Pommeret, and 3. Jason Schlarb. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
Coverage Thanks
Thanks so much to the following individuals who helped iRunFar cover this race: Susan Van Weperen, Kaska Gdela, Ralf Elsaesser, Franz Dill, Curtis Whittit, Zachary Gingrich-Gaylord, Micaela Theisen, Hannah Green, Eric Blood, Matt Dietrich, Luke Verbus, John Reese, Alexander Angstadt, Ashley Saloga, Casey Wyatt, Ellie Greenwood, Olivia Rissland, and Marissa Harris. Our race production is a community production!
