Courtney Dauwalter is ready to dominate Hardrock 100
Hardrock 100 kicks off tomorrow morning, and Courtney Dauwalter and François D'Haene are ready to put on a show

It’s almost Hardrock 100 (HR100) weekend, and fans are gearing up to tune in for potentially record-destroying appearances from Colorado-based Courtney Dauwalter and France’s François D’Haene, both hoping to claim another win in the legendary 102.5 mile event. The race, which accepts only 140 runners each year and is notoriously hard to get into, will be broadcast on a livestream; here’s what you need to know to follow along.
Women’s race
Dauwalter holds the course records for both the clockwise direction (26:44:36 from 2022) and the counter-clockwise direction (26:14:08 from 2023). In 2023 she managed to win Western States 100, HR100 and UTMB, something no athlete has ever achieved. In 2024, she has already taken dominant wins at Transgrancanaria in the Canary Islands and Mt. Fuji 100 in Japan, where she was also third overall.
This year, she’ll be facing off against France’s Camille Bruyas (who was second at Diagonale des Fous on Reunion Island in October and took second at UTMB in 2021) and Katharina Harmuth of Germany, who was runner-up at UTMB last year and will be tackling Hardrock for the first time. Bruyas will be paced by Canadian ultrarunner Marianne Hogan. American runner Tara Dower will also be making her debut appearance at the race, fresh off an overall win at the Umstead 100-miler, held in April in North Carolina.
French runner Claire Bannwarth, known for her prolific racing (28 races in 2023), took fifth place in the 2023 edition of HR100, but raced Quebec Mega Trail (held at Quebec’s Monte St. Anne ski resort) last weekend, and struggled after tearing her addcutor two months ago. “On one leg and not acclimated, the goal will also be to finish as slowly as possible,” Bannwarth posted on Instagram.
Men’s race
The fastest men’s time for the clockwise route was set in 2022 by Spain’s Kilian Jornet (21:36:24), while the counter-clockwise record is held by D’Haene (21:45:50 from 2021), who is the clear favourite in this year’s race. The French ultrarunning legend has won numerous prestigious races, and also finished second at HR100 to Jornet in 2022, so holds two of the fastest times on the course.
U.S. runner Zach Miller, who placed second at UTMB in 2023, was considered a top contender until he unexpectedly developed acute appendicitis last week and had to have surgery. “…it’s looking like I will most likely be more donut maker than Hardrock racer next weekend,” he posted on Instagram. D’Haene’s countryman, Ludovic Pommeret, 48, may also challenge D’Haene, after taking fourth (fifth overall, after Dauwalter) at UTMB in 2023, and winning the TDS (145K) race at UTMB in 2022. Fellow legendary masters runner Karl Meltzer, 56, of the the U.S., will be toeing the line, as well as 2016 HR100 champion Jason Schlarb (46), also of the U.S.
HR100 was first held in 1992, and was founded as a tribute to the tenacity of the Hardrock miners who once worked in the rugged mountains of Colorado, and used to follow “their mules and instincts, prospecting the San Juans for gold, silver, and other metals,” the race website explains. HR100 both begins and ends in Silverton, Co., and athletes are above 3,300 metres elevation for much of the race. With a finishing cutoff time of 48 hours, athletes know they are in for a long haul. The course switches directions every year, and this year runners are moving in a clockwise direction around the looped course.
Fans can watch the livestreamed event here, beginning at 8 am E.T. on Friday, check out live aid station splits here or livetrack (dot watch) HR 100 by clicking here,