Congratulations to all the runners who were chosen for the 2023 Hardrock 100!
The Hardrock 100 is a 100-mile race bearing 33,000 feet of climbing that goes in a loop around Colorado’s gorgeous San Juan Mountains, starting and finishing in the small town of Silverton. The course regularly visits altitudes above 13,000 feet and boasts several climbs exceeding 4,000 vertical feet. The event alternates directions on its loop each year, with the 2023 event heading in the counterclockwise direction.
The Hardrock 100 has one of the most difficult lotteries to enter the run — in part because the qualifying races which you have to finish in order to enter the event lotto themselves are all notoriously challenging, and in part because, for this year, some 2,414 people vied for the event’s 146 spots.
In this article, we attempt to distill the complicated lotto process and highlight those runners who we expect will make a speedy lap around the San Juans at the front of those 146 very lucky participants.
Sunrise on Grant-Swamp Pass during the 2017 Hardrock 100. Photo: iRunFar/Vince Heyd
2023 Hardrock 100 Lottery Parameters
The Hardrock 100 lottery is complicated, so setting the stage with the parameters of this year’s lotto gives context for the rest of this article.
The 2023 Hardrock 100 will start 146 runners. As mentioned at the outset of this article, 2,414 people applied for the lottery. This is significantly up from the 2022 lotto which had 1,916 applicants.
The 2023 lottery was divided into two categories, the Never Finished and Finished divisions:
- Never Finished (Henceforth, simply “Never”) — This pool contains runners who’ve not yet finished the Hardrock 100.
- Finished — This pool contains runners who’ve finished at least one Hardrock 100.
For 2023, the event chose 73 runners from each category.
For the 2022 event and beyond, the organization adopted a gender policy to help account for the historic underrepresentation of women in the Hardrock 100. The policy states that the event will start at least the percentage of women who apply for the lotto. For 2023, 19.7% of the lotto applicants were women, so 29 of the 146 starters will be women for 2023. The organization allotted 18 of those spots to the Never Finished category and nine of those spots to the Finished category.
Historically, several runners are chosen ahead of time by the run director, Dale Garland, and announced among the names chosen in the lottery. The run organization indicated Garland chose six runners for 2023, and those entries were applied to their respective categories.
Returning champions are given entrance to the event. The 2022 women’s champion Courtney Dauwalter has accepted that entry, while 2022 men’s champ Kilian Jornet declined it. Dauwalter’s entry comes from the Finished category.
There are four runners whose 2022 entries were deferred to 2023, and whose entries were applied to their respective categories.
All told, it looks like the lotto selected 135 runners for 2023, with the 11 remaining entrants Dale’s picks, the reigning women’s champion, and the 2022 deferments.
The chances of a runner gaining entry to Hardrock depend upon which division of the lotto they are in and how many tickets they have in the lotto. The Hardrock 100 website’s lottery page explains the details and nuances, but in short, tickets are gained through previous finishes as well as volunteer service to the organization.
In addition to entrants drawn in the lottery, waitlist names were also drawn into four division- and gender-specific waitlists.
Even though this event is called a run and not a race, the front end is competitive in nature while still seeming to maintain the cooperative family spirit upon which the Hardrock 100 prides itself. In the rest of this article, we document the women and men who were selected in the lottery today who we think will be the main contenders. We also mention who is on a waitlist with a reasonable chance to get in.
Bogie Dumitrescu after finishing the 2015 Hardrock 100 one second before the 48-hour cutoff. Photo: Blake Wood
Notable 2023 Hardrock 100 Women’s Entrants
As mentioned above, just about the only way to gain automatic entry to the Hardrock 100 is by winning. The 2022 women’s champion Courtney Dauwalter will be back to defend her title. Below are the notable women who were chosen in the 2023 lottery as well as the defending champ, listed in alphabetical order:
- Claire Bannwarth (France) – 11th 2020 Transgrancanaria; 1st 2019 Endurance Trail des Templiers; 12th 2019 Lavaredo Ultra Trail
- Becky Bates (Canada) – 5th 2017 Hardrock 100; 8th 2022 High Lonesome 100 Mile; 10th 2021 Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile; 14th 2018 CCC
- Christina Bauer — 3rd 2019 High Lonesome 100 Mile; 5th 2018 Grand Traverse Mountain Run
- Stephanie Case (Canada, but living in France) – 2nd 2021 Hardrock 100; 1st 2021 Tor des Glaciers 450k; 3rd 2021 Val d’Aran; 4th 2018 Tor des Géants
- Courtney Dauwalter — 1st & course record at 2022 Hardrock 100; 1st & course record at 2022 Diagonale des Fous; 1st & course record 2021 UTMB
- Annie Hughes – 1st 2022 Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile; 1st 2022 High Lonesome 100 Mile; 1st 2022 Cocodona 250 Mile; 1st 2021 Leadville 100 Mile
- Dana Kracaw – 5th 2021 IMTUF 100 Mile
- Whitney Mickelsen – 5th 2022 Swiss Alps 100 Mile; 4th 2020 IMTUF 100 Mile; 7th 2021 Speedgoat 50k
- Kimino Miyazaki (Japan) – 24th 2022 UTMB; 2nd 2021 Doi Ithanon by UTMB 100 Mile; 2nd 2018 Hasetsune Cup
- Anne-Lise Rousset Séguret (France) – 2nd 2022 Diagonale des Fous; 2nd 2019 Transvulcania; 4th 2018 CCC
Full entrants list and waitlists.
Courtney Dauwalter winning and setting a course record at the 2022 Hardrock 100. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
Notable 2023 Hardrock 100 Men’s Entrants
Here are the notable men who were chosen in the 2023 lottery, listed in alphabetical order:
- Ryan Burch – 25th 2021 Pikes Peak Marathon; 3rd 2018 Bighorn 100 Mile; 3rd 2018 Never Summer 100k
- Avery Collins – 5th 2022 Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile; 11th 2021 Madeira Island Ultra-Trail; 15th 2021 CCC
- Nick Coury – 8th 2022 Hardrock 100; 4th 2021 Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile; 5th 2022 Javelina 100 Mile; 3rd 2021 Black Canyon 100k
- Brian Culmo – 2nd 2021 Bear 100 Mile; 1st 2021 Squaw Peak 50 Mile
- Yassine Diboun – 6th 2022 Mongollon Monster 100 Mile; 4th 2022 White River 50 Mile
- Javi Dominguez (Spain) – 20th 2021, 9th 2019, 10th 2018, & 5th 2016 UTMB; 1st 2022, 2nd 2019, five-time winner Ehunmilak 100 Mile (including 2022); 1st 2017 Tor des Géants
- Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz – 2nd 2021 UTMB; 1st 2021 Transgrancanaria; 2nd 2018 Madeira Island Ultra-Trail
- Jakub Galczynski – 2nd 2021 IMTUF 100 Mile; 3rd 2020, 12th 2019, & 7th 2018 Bear 100 Mile
- Arlen Glick – 3rd 2022 Western States 100; 2nd 2022 Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile, 3rd 2022 & 1st 2021 Javelina 100 Mile
- Jesse Haynes – 2nd 2022 Leona Divide 100k; 1st 2022 Sean O’Brien 100k; 3rd 2019 Bigfoot 200 Mile
- Troy Howard – 8th 2021, 3rd 2018, 5th 2015, & 2nd 2013 & 2009 Hardrock 100
- Beñat Marmissolle (France) – 1st 2022 & 2nd 2021 Diagonale des Fous; 6th 2022 UTMB; 7th 2021 Madeira Island Ultra-Trail
- Michael Owen – 1st 2018 Grindstone 100 Mile; 1st 2022, 2021, 2019 & 2017 Promised Land 50k; 3rd 2016, 4th 2019 & 2nd 2017 JFK 50 Mile
- Chris Price – 3rd 2022 Bigfoot 200 Mile; 1st 2019 Tahoe Rim Trail 100 Mile; 4th 2015 Hardrock 100
- Sam Ritchie – 4th 2021 High Lonesome 100 Mile; 2nd 2016 IMTUF 100 Mile
- Paul Terranova – 4th 2022 Bighorn 100 Mile; 3rd 2021 Bear 100 Mile; 3rd 2021 High Lonesome 100 Mile; Nolan’s 14 finisher
- Michael Wardian – 26th 2021 & 11th 2018 Hardrock 100
Full entrants list and waitlists.
Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz (left) after taking second to François D’Haene at the 2021 UTMB. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
Notable Waitlisted Women With at Least a Remote Chance of Getting In
These are the fast women who are high enough on their respective waitlists that they might get in before race day. We’re listing them in the order in which they appear on waitlists:
- Darla Askew (1st Finished waitlist) – 6-time Hardrock 100 finisher most recently 3rd in 2018; 1st 2022 Pine to Palm 100 Mile; 1st 2022 Standhope 100 Mile
- Rachel Kelley – (1st Never waitlist) 16th 2019 & 21st 2018 Western States 100; 12th 2017 JFK 50 Mile
- Darcy Piceu (6th Finished waitlist) – 9-time Hardrock 100 finisher with 3 wins, a 2nd in 2021, and 4th in 2022
- Christi Richards (7th Never waitlist) – 1st 2021 & 2nd 2019 IMTUF 100 Mile; 1st 2018 Canadian Death Race
- Kaori Niwa (8th Finished waitlist) – 4th 2018 Hardrock 100; 13th 2022, 13th 2021, 16th 2018, 4th 2017 & 8th 2016 UTMB; 3rd 2021 Doi Inthanon by UTMB 100 Mile
- Joanna Ford (9th Finished waitlist) – 6th 2022 Hardrock 100; 11th 2019 Bighorn 100 Mile; 3rd 2018 Ute 100 Mile
- Sabrina Stanley (11th Finished waitlist) – 2-time Hardrock 100 winner in 2018 and 2021; 1st 2019 Diagonale des Fous; 2-time Nolan’s 14 finisher
- Kathleen Egan (11th Never waitlist) – 1st 2022 Bigfoot 200 Mile
- Erin Clark (12th Never waitlist) – 2nd 2022 Moab 240 Mile
Full entrants list and waitlists.
[Editor’s Note: We’re only listing runners from the top 12 of the Never Finished and Finished women’s waitlists. We’ll add additional runners if there’s lots of movement on the waitlists.]
Notable Waitlisted Men With at Least a Remote Chance of Getting In
These are the fast men who are high enough on their respective waitlists that they might get in before race day. We’re listing them in the order in which they appear on waitlists:
- Mark Hammond (1st Never waitlist) – 5th 2022 & 1st 2020 Jackpot 100 Mile; 5th 2021 Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile; 5th 2019 Western States 100
- Jeff Browning (2nd Finished waitlist) – 6-time Hardrock 100 finisher with a win in 2018 & 5th place in 2021 & 2022; 1st 2022 Moab 240 Mile
- Chad Lasater (2nd Never waitlist) – 4th 2022 Vermont 100 Mile; 1st 2022 Old Dominion 100 Mile; 26th 2022 Leadville 100 Mile
- Masazumi Fujioka (4th Never waitlist) – 6th 2022 Hurt 100 Mile; 1st 2022 Orcas Island 50k; 1st 2022 Lumberjack 50 Mile
- Dylan Bowman (6th Finished waitlist) – 2nd 2021 Hardrock 100; 3rd 2020 Transgrancanaria
- Kris Tyson (8th Never waitlist) – 2nd 2021 Cruel Jewel 100 Mile; 11th 2019 High Lonesome 100 Mile; 5th 2018 Bighorn 100 Mile; 6th 2017 Bear 100 Mile
- Matthew Zabriskie (11th Never waitlist) – 6th 2022 Bighorn 100 Mile; 4th 2021 Antelope Island 100 Mile; 1st 2018 Scout Mountain 100 Mile
Full entrants list and waitlists.
[Editor’s Note: We’re only listing runners from the top 12 of the Never Finished and Finished men’s waitlists. We’ll add additional runners if there’s lots of movement on the waitlists.]
Call for Comments
- Did you make in the lotto for the 2023 Hardrock 100?
- If you didn’t make it in, will you plan to attend the event to volunteer or spectate?
- Who do you expect to be at the front of the 2023 event?
Ben Wyrick descends Swamp Canyon with Oscar’s Pass in the distance during the 2018 Hardrock 100. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
