Hardrock : "The Hardest 100"100 miles and over 33,000 ft ascent in San Juan Mountains, Colorado
Hardrock is a race that probably shouldn't exist. You can just imagine, any club runner who suggested this to their mates would be greeted with loads of enthusiasm for the idea but…as a race?...no way.
Certainly in the UK the authorities, the insurers and landowners would all have squashed it but Hardrock takes place in the San Juan mountains of south western Colorado and they do things a little differently over there. Also, it was conceived and brought into this world by a small gang of rocket scientists - the eggheads of Los Alamos research centre and they are not the kind of guys to be put off by the "little things" in this world.
So it came to be that there is a 100 mile race involving 33,000 feet of ascent and descent over terrain that includes scree and snowslopes so steep they fix ropes; with a maximum altitude over 14,000 feet and all sorts of objective dangers from rockfall to lightning strike to falling off a cliff. It's not been easy for the organisers, back in 1995 the race was cancelled as most of the course was still under 15 feet of snow - in July! That's not an exaggeration because a small group of us were out there and saw it for ourselves. Then in 2002 they had to cancel because forest fires were raging over parts of the course. Still, Hardrock has taken place 11 or 12 times now and in that time it has grown a hugely loyal following to the extent that several Americans and even a German have relocated to be able to work, live and train in those beautiful San Juan mountains. The Bureau of Land and Mines who own much of the terrain over which the course passes have relaxed their restrictions a little and the race now accepts entries for around 140 runners each year but it has become one of the most sought after so that, for every place they offer, the organisers have to turn down 4 or 5 times as many applications.
So, why is Hardrock so wonderful and how do go about tackling its dangerous seduction?
Hardrock is wonderful quite simply because it enables you to achieve something which seems impossible or beyond your grasp. Firstly, 100 miles seems like a long way right. Well, yes and it is. The US has a strong 100 mile race scene but we in the UK don't so when we compare it to a Bob Graham round or a Fellsman we might think…but that's another 30 or 40 miles and there is no way I could have done that at the end of my round/race. The secret though is that we in the UK have a huge potential advantage. That advantage is our experience of the type of terrain that is the bread and butter of Hardrock. If you have fellraced in the UK, if you have spent winter days on the hill you will know and be competent with scree, wet feet, sliding on snow, hands on knees climbs and so on. I don't mean to suggest that there aren't good tough runners in the US but I do strongly suggest that some of their most fleet of foot athletes are used to a degree of support and manicured trail that you definitely don't get on Hardrock. I've been there and I've raced against better athletes who really didn't want to get their feet wet! It's a big problem on a course that has several river crossings and runs through innumerable wet meadows. What you do is appreciate the fantastic flowers the water brings to life after the snow melts each year and you don't worry about the wet feet.
Armed what that secret, you need to see a little of the course. Pictures can't do full justice to the true splendour of these mountains, the intensity of emotion or the warmth of support the race offers but they do illustrate that there is some wonderful scenery around. Words also seem inadequate as vivid memories flood back into your mind for weeks afterwards - at work, at home, when you first wake. With these limitations firmly in mind I offer a few snaps with grateful thanks to Klas Eklof who managed to take pictures in the heat of the race far better than I have ever captured in training coupled with a few thoughts about our successful run in 1997 when Mark McDermott was kind enough to stick with me so that we recorded a joint win in the race and a then record time.
 | It's early July, in the beautiful San Juan Mountains of Colorado. But it is 2am, dark and snowing. We are leading one of the major 100 mile endurance races in the USA but on an exposed ridge at 14,000 ft with a thunderstorm about 3 miles away, heading towards us. I feel small, frightened and insignificant in this landscape. I was here before, two years earlier when a storm hit. There was no race that day so the decision was easy - sprint off the ridge and down to the safer valleys - but tonight is different; balancing our desire to win the race with a continual assessment of the risk. |
| Putnam Basin - only 8 miles downhill from here in an Anticlockwise year |
Twenty minutes later and the storm is tracking off to the east leaving just a thin but treacherous blanket of wet snow. Descent over the boulder fields of the upper slopes in these conditions seems interminable. Time and time again I scrape and bruise ankles and shins. Down in the valley, trotting along a track through Aspen groves there is a reflector ahead, checkpoint nearby? I wonder. Then the reflector blinks and crashes off through the trees!
| Heart still pounding, I arrive at the aid station. 4am on a cold night, miles away from the nearest road but there are still a dozen or more people here ready to help every runner on their way. We have run 70 miles and climbed 28,000 ft over the San Juan Mountains to get here and Mark is so strong but I am failing. This is a scant month after an intensive 24 hour effort and the body says stop. But this is no resting place; there are still 30 miles to run and 10,000 ft to climb with nearly 200 runners behind who will gladly pass if we slow or stop. In fact, most of them probably expect us to slow or stop because we are flatlanders and we don't "belong" here. |  |
| It's quite possible to get snow during the race - approaching Virginius pass at 13,000ft |
My feet are blistered, my mind is fatigued and my stomach is rebelling from 22 hrs of continual movement and "eating on the run" but there is work to be done so we set off, leaving the oasis of warmth and camaraderie into the chill grey of pre-dawn. Eight hours later and my spirits are soaring; the end is in sight. We have run through the day, the night and into the next day but really its passed quicker than a day at the office and in that time we have seen the aloofness of a coyote, ranging across the barren remnant snowfields of the high Rockies, the tenderness of an Elk nursing its new born foal and the majesty of an Eagle soaring the ridges of its domain. Above all, we have been brave enough to face the possibility of failure; set out on something we didn't know we could achieve and, bit by painstaking bit, tackled it and won. |  |
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| Stunning flower meadows lift the spirits | Bear Creek Ouray - not a good place step off the trail! |
Are you tempted yet?
Some facts then. Hardrock takes place on the 2nd weekend of July each year. It starts and finishes in Silverton in the south-western corner of Colorado and follows a large loop through Ouray and Telluride. Each year the direction of the race alternates and in 2008 it will be anticlockwise first. There is a total of 33,000' elevation gain, an 11,186' average elevation, a low point 7,680' at Ouray and a high point 14,048' at Handies Peak. Although your personal low and high points are likely to be in different place and considerably deeper and higher than these bald stats indicate!!
Now then, the 2nd secret about Hardrock is that as an overseas runner it is a lot easier to get accepted than as US runner. The organisers bill this as a post-graduate run and it is in the sense that you really should not be out there unless you have done some pretty long races/challenges BUT, if you have done a BG round or similar, if you have completed Tour de Mont Blanc or similar then Hardrock should be possible. The entry criteria for US runners are pretty strict and mostly involve having done Hardrock already!!! but here is what is says about overseas entries: "Foreign candidates (who may not have access to the runs listed above) and runners who do not strictly meet these qualifications should submit a 500 word (or less) account of their ultrarunning/mountain experience that convinces the selection committee that they are prepared for the run."
So, if you go for it and you get accepted what should you do next? I offer three suggestions which have worked pretty well for those of us who have run Hardrock. To date, the Brits have a higher success/finish percentage than the US by a reasonable margin because this is a race where often less than 50% of starters will finish.
1. Plan on a 2 - 2 ½ week holiday out there with the race at the end. This is the minimum time really needed to acclimatise halfway properly and gives you the time you need to see the course and the terrain
2. Fastpack as much of the course as you can as soon as you can when you get out there. After a couple of days you should be acclimatising and with judicious planning about overnight stops you should be able to cover most of the course over around 4 days. It feels brutal and makes you think you will never be able to complete the race but it does work - ask Tim Laney who was very close to dropping out after his recce with only a week to go before the race but then recorded a 5th place overall.
3. Don't treat it as a race. You may well be out there for 36-48 hours. People will go off at a trot. You shouldn't. Think about a 36 hour completion (well good enough to be in the top 3rd). That's an average of just under 3 miles per hour. So, don't run up ANY hills - however slight. Don't race through a checkpoint without taking time to eat and drink. Sure, at the sharp end people are running a lot of the course but for most it is a challenge and an experience without parallel. You are allowed to enjoy it!!
So there you have it; the "hardest" 100 and an achievement to remember for a lifetime. There will be a group of Brits out there for 2008 - why not join us?
Photo Credits: Klas Eklof
Article: Copyright - SE2 2006
