Getting In · Coveted ultra
Hardrock 100
You kiss a rock at the end. Between here and there: 100 miles through the San Juan Mountains, 33,000 feet of climbing, thirteen passes above 12,000 feet, and a summit of a fourteener at whatever hour of the night you happen to arrive.
- Distance
- 100.5 mi
- Climbing
- ~33,000 ft
- Average elevation
- 11,186 ft
- High point
- Handies Peak, 14,048 ft
- Field
- ~146
- Cutoff
- 48 hours
Hardrock is not a race in the ordinary sense. It's a 48-hour hour hour mountain traverse between Silverton, Telluride, Ouray, and Sherman, on a course that alternates direction each year, with a field of about 146 people who all know each other. There is no prize money. There is a rock with a ram's head painted on it, and you kiss it.
The San Juans in July mean afternoon thunderstorms on exposed 13,000-foot ridges, snowfields that persist into the race, river crossings running high with snowmelt, and altitude that never lets up. The average elevation of the entire course is over 11,000 feet. It is consistently described by people who have run everything as the hardest hundred in America.
How to get in
- Time qualifierA short and serious qualifier list
Hardrock maintains a deliberately short list of qualifying races: hard mountain 100s and a few very tough shorter races. You must finish one within the qualifying window to enter the lottery. This is a much higher bar than Western States, by design.
- LotteryFour pools, and a DNS multiplier
The draw splits into Never (never finished) and Finished pools, separated by gender. Within a pool, applicants receive 2^N tickets where N is the number of previous DNSs since last starting, so people who have been drawn and couldn't start accumulate weight fast. The Never pool is by far the most oversubscribed.
- Volunteer / serviceTrail work and community
Hardrock is a volunteer-run event embedded in Silverton. Trail work, aid station duty, and crewing don't buy a bib, but the race genuinely runs on the people who show up, and crewing or pacing teaches you a course you cannot learn any other way.
Altitude is the entire difficulty
- The average elevation is over 11,000 feet. Not the high point. The average. There is no recovery altitude anywhere on the course.
- Handies Peak is 14,048 feet and you will likely summit it in the dark after 60 or 70 miles.
- Arrive early. Two to three weeks in the San Juans is the standard preparation and it is not optional for sea-level runners.
- Afternoon storms are lethal. Above treeline in the San Juans in July, lightning is a serious risk. Know the bail-out options for every pass.
- Snow and water crossings. Depending on the year, snowfields persist and rivers run high. Poles and traction are normal, not optional.
Questions runners actually ask
How hard is it to get into Hardrock?
Extremely. First-time applicants in the never-finished pool typically face odds under two percent, and you must finish a race from a short and demanding qualifier list every year just to keep entering.
How does the ticket system work?
Applicants receive 2^N tickets where N is the number of previous did-not-starts since they last started Hardrock. This heavily favours people who were drawn previously but couldn't run.
Do I need altitude experience?
Yes. The average elevation of the course exceeds 11,000 feet and the high point is a 14,048 foot summit. Sea-level runners typically arrive two to three weeks early.
Go to the source
Entry rules, dates, standards, fees, and odds change every single year, and the interesting races change them the most. Use this guide to build the plan; use the official site to confirm the details before you book anything.
If this is your kind of thing
Need the races in between? The hard part of a bucket list year is everything else on the calendar: the qualifier, the tune-up, the long run with a bib on.