Two ultrarunners finish Colorado’s Hardrock 100 hand-in-hand as co-champions

@jasonschlarb and Killian Jornet finish the 2016 #hr100 together!!! Incredible effort by both today! #gofarfeelgood

A photo posted by SmartWool (@smartwool) on Jul 16, 2016 at 4:03am PDT

After running much of the Hardrock 100-miler together in Colorado on Friday and into Saturday, Kilian Jornet and Jason Schlarb decided to finish together. The duo held hands across the line in a great display of sportsmanship. Rather than crossing a finish line, the two concurrently “kissed the ram,” a large piece of mining debris painted to represent a ram’s head, to cap off the race.

The Hardrock 100 is considered one of the toughest races in the United States because of the altitude and elevation gain.

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Video of the finish courtesy of IRunFar.com

Video of Kilian Jornet and Jason Schlarb winning the Hardrock 100 Endurance Run together! #HR100 pic.twitter.com/MOCpY7lbwm

— iRunFar (@iRunFar) July 16, 2016

Jornet and Schlarb ran 22:58:28 for the 100.5-mile (161K) race. They had similar splits at each of the checkpoints on the one-loop course, which begins and ends in Silverton, Colo. Schlarb fell back by about 10 minutes early in the race but, according to the splits, caught up with Jornet after the midway point.

Very well done @kilianj and @jasonschlarb for winning #HR100 AWESOME!! pic.twitter.com/1OIk63t46n

— Salomon Running (@SalomonRunning) July 16, 2016

The race was established in 1992 and is considered one of North America’s top ultramarathons. Only the previous year’s winners are guaranteed a spot in the race as the highly-competitive entry process only allows for 150 lottery spots. Each edition of the race alternates direction with 2016 being a clockwise year.

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The race includes more than 10,000m of elevation gain with much of the race course 3,400m above sea level. Schlarb is from a nearby Colorado town while Jornet, often considered the world’s best trail runner, is from Spain. Jornet holds the course record, 22:41:33, set at his Hardrock 100 debut in 2014.

2016 Hardrock 100 mile champions. Trail ultra running at its best. This is why I so love this sport. True display of sportsmanship —– Kilian enabled me to run the greatest race of my life" – Jason. "After running together all night, sharing in the mountains, it would have been crazy to finish, what, 1 minute apart?!" – Kilian. A fantastic display of extraordinary athleticism combined with camaraderie and appreciation for the mountains and the event. #hr100 #trailrunning #mountains #mountainrunning #hardrock100 #ultrarunning #runitfast

A photo posted by Ernani Jeric Occiano (@jocciano) on Jul 16, 2016 at 5:26am PDT

As of July 16 at 1:15 p.m. EDT, the women’s winner, Anna Frost, is the only woman to have finished the Hardrock 100. Frost, who is from New Zealand, runs professionally for Salomon and defended her Hardrock title after winning the race in 2015. Her time was 29:02:09.

Anna Frost @SalomonRunning wins #HR100 and is 29:02:09 and is 8th overall! pic.twitter.com/XXX7E0BtHm

— iRunFar (@iRunFar) July 16, 2016

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