The lottery for the 2026 Hardrock 100 took place on Saturday, December 6, 2025. Congratulations to the runners who secured places on the entrants list!
The Hardrock 100 is a 102.5-mile race through Colorado’s San Juan Mountains, starting and finishing in the village of Silverton. The course is notorious for both its beauty and challenge. The route packs in 33,000 feet of elevation gain, taking place at an average altitude of around 11,000 feet. It alternates direction each year and will run clockwise in 2026.
The 2025 Hardrock 100 women’s champ Katie Schide plans to be back in 2026. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
A bucket list race for some ultrarunners, the Hardrock 100 is difficult to gain entry into, with 2,747 applying for this year’s lottery alone. This is slightly down from the 3,023 applicants for the 2025 edition, while roughly in line with the 2,796 applicants in 2024.
Unlike the Western States 100, which offers several avenues to gain entry as well as an even more difficult lottery to get through, the only way to secure a guaranteed entry into the Hardrock 100 is to win the previous year’s race. The 2026 Hardrock 100 will have 146 runners, which is the recent standard for the event.
In this article, we list the top competitors on the current entrants lists as well as those high enough on their respective waitlists to have a chance of getting in. Then, we explain how the lottery operates.
Notable 2026 Hardrock 100 Men’s Entrants
The only way to gain entrance to this event, aside from the lottery, is to win the year before. Men’s 2025 Hardrock 100 champion Ludovic Pommeret (post-race interviews) has elected to use his entry.
Ludovic Pommeret will return for the 2026 Hardrock 100 after winning in 2025 (and 2024). Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Here are the notable men selected to run the 2026 Hardrock 100, in alphabetical order:
- David Ayala – 4th 2025 Hardrock 100; 1st 2024 IMTUF 100 Mile; 2nd 2021 Bighorn 100 Mile
- Dylan Bowman – 9th 2023 & 2nd 2021 Hardrock 100 Mile; 4th 2024 Mozart 100k; 7th 2022 Ultra Pirineu 100k
- Nick Coury – 7th 2024 & 8th 2022 Hardrock 100; 5th 2022 Javelina 100 Mile; 1st 2021 Desert Solstice 24-Hour
- Alex Docta – 6th 2025 Mogollon Monster 100 Mile; 4th 2023 Jackpot 100 Mile
- Jimmy Elam – 1st 2025 Mammoth 200 Mile; 1st 2025 Cascade Crest 100 Mile; 1st 2024 San Juan Solstice 50 Mile; 2nd 2023 Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile
- Tom Evans (U.K.) – 1st 2025 & 3rd 2022 UTMB; 1st 2023 Western States 100; 2nd 2024 Lavaredo Ultra Trail; 3rd 2024 Transvulcania
- Arlen Glick – 4th 2023 Hardrock 100; 3rd 2024 Cocodona 250 Mile; 3rd 2023 & 2nd 2022 Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile; 3rd 2022 Western States 100
- Nate Jaqua – 1st 2025 & 2023 HURT 100 Mile; 1st 2023 Crazy Mountain 100 Mile
- Michael McKnight – 8th 2025, 1st 2023 & 2nd 2022 Cocodona 250 Mile; 2nd 2024 Tahoe 200 Mile; 1st 2021 Moab 240 Mile; 1st 2021 Bigfoot 200 Mile
- Caleb Olson – 1st 2025 & 5th 2024 Western States 100; 1st 2025 Transgrancanaria; 2nd 2024 Madeira Island Ultra-Trail
- Jeff Rome – 7th 2025 & 4th 2024 Hardrock 100
- Jason Schlarb – 3rd 2024 Hardrock 100; 9th 2024 TDS; 8th 2022 Eiger Ultra-Trail 100k
- Ryan Smith – 3rd 2021 Hardrock 100; 1st 2022 High Five 100 Mile
- Paul Terranova – 6th 2024 & 2023 Hardrock 100; 6th 2023 Leadville 100 Mile; 4th 2022 Bighorn 100 Mile
Full entrants lists and waitlists.
Tom Evans after winning the 2025 UTMB. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
Notable 2026 Hardrock 100 Women’s Entrants
Women’s 2025 Hardrock 100 champion Katie Schide (post-race interviews) has elected to use her automatic entry as last year’s winner.
Here are the notable women selected to run the 2026 Hardrock 100, in alphabetical order:
- Careth Arnold – 1st 2025 TDS; 2nd 2025 High Lonesome 100 Mile; 5th 2025 & 4th 2024 Canyons 100k; 14th 2024 Western States 100
- Darla Askew – 10th 2023 Hardrock 100; 1st 2022 Pine to Palm 100 Mile
- Courtney Dauwalter – 1st 2024, 2023 & 2022 Hardrock 100; 1st 2023 & 2021 UTMB; 1st 2023 Western States 100
- Tara Dower – 4th 2024 Hardrock 100; 1st 2025 Javelina 100 Mile; 1st 2023 Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile
- Alyson Kirk – 4th 2025 Crazy Mountain 100 Mile; 4th 2024 Cruel Jewel 100 Mile; 3rd 2022 Bighorn 100 Mile
- Aliza Lapierre – 8th 2025 Hardrock 100; 7th 2024 & 2nd 2023 Cocodona 250 Mile; 1st 2025 Midstate Massive 100 Mile
- Kaci Lickteig – 9th 2025 Javelina 100 Mile; 6th 2025 HURT 100 Mile; 4th 2024 High Lonesome 100 Mile
- Jenny Pierce – 6th 2025 Cascade Crest 100 Mile; 4th 2024 & 1st 2022 Crazy Mountain 100 Mile; 4th 2023 Wasatch 100 Mile
- Meghan Slavin – 3rd 2023 & 2nd 2021 Mogollon Monster 100 Mile; 3rd 2023 San Diego 100 Mile
- Emily Wanless – 5th 2024 Cascade Crest 100 Mile; 7th 2023 Leadville 100 Mile
Full entrants lists and waitlists.
Courtney Dauwalter climbs amongst the Hardrock 100 wildflowers on her way to winning the 2023 race. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
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 to have a chance of getting in before race day. They are listed in waitlist order:
- Sam Ritchie – 13th 2023 Hardrock 100; 4th 2021 High Lonesome 100 Mile (9th Finished waitlist)
- John Fitzgerald – 9th 2022 Hardrock 100 (10th Finished waitlist)
- Don Reichelt – 1st 2025 Creede 100 Mile; 1st 2024 Desert Solstice 24 Hour (154 miles); 13th 2024 Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile (11th Never waitlist)
- Jeff Browning – 5th 2023, 2022 & 2021 Hardrock 100; 18th 2025 Western States 100; 4th 2024 High Lonesome 100 Mile; 2nd 2024 Cocodona 250 Mile (13th Finished waitlist)
- Dakota Jones – 3rd 2022 Hardrock 100; 9th 2024 & 3rd 2023 CCC; 1st 2023 Transvulcania (14th Finished waitlist)
Full entrants lists and waitlists.
[Editor’s Note: We’re listing runners from the top 14 of the Never Finished and Finished men’s waitlists. We’ll add additional men to this section at a later date if there’s lots of movement on the waitlists.]
Dakota Jones on his way to the podium at the 2022 Hardrock 100. He’s 14th on the Finished waitlist as of lottery day. 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 to have a chance of getting in before race day. They are listed in waitlist order:
- Bailey Eppard – 8th 2025 Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile; 4th 2024 Bighorn 100 Mile (5th Never waitlist)
- Alissa St Laurent (Canada) – 10th 2025 & 2nd 2021 Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile; 1st 2023 Grindstone 100 Mile (6th Never waitlist)
- Christina Bauer – 8th 2023 Hardrock 100 (10th Finished waitlist)
- Tory O’Farrell (Canada) – 3rd 2025 Ultra Tour Monte Rosa 100 Mile; 1st 2022 Whistler Alpine Meadows 100 Mile (11th Never waitlist)
- Sophie Grant (U.K.) – 9th 2025 & 5th 2023 Tor des Géants; 22nd 2024 UTMB; 6th 2024 Lavaredo Ultra Trail (13th Never waitlist)
- Stephanie Case (Canada) – 5th 2025 & 2nd 2022 Hardrock 100; 1st 2021 Tor des Glaciers 450k (13th Finished waitlist)
Full entrants lists and waitlists.
[Editor’s Note: We’re listing runners from the top 14 of the Never Finished and Finished women’s waitlists. We’ll add additional women to this section at a later date if there’s lots of movement on the waitlists.]
Stephanie Case one her way to taking fifth at the 2025 Hardrock 100. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
2026 Hardrock 100 Lottery Parameters
The 2026 lottery is divided into two categories, the Never Finished and Finished divisions:
- Never Finished – Runners who’ve not yet finished the Hardrock 100.
- Finished – Runners who’ve finished at least one Hardrock 100.
For 2026, the organization selected 82 Never Finished runners and 64 Finished runners.
From 2022 onward, the Hardrock 100 organization adopted a new policy whereby the same proportion of female runners who enter the lottery will be selected to run the race. Therefore, the draw is essentially drawn into four sections: Female Never, Female Finished, Male Never, and Male Finished. For 2026, 607 lotto applicants were female, representing 22.1% of the applicant pool. Thus, there will be 33 female starters.
Returning champions are given automatic entrance to the event. Both 2025 champions, Katie Schide and Ludovic Pommeret, claimed their entries for 2026.
Each year, run director (RD) Dale Garland handpicks six entrants who bypass the lottery via special consideration. Explained on the organization’s website, “[S]ix such runners will be selected, evenly split between men and women, from a slate of at least 12 applicants proposed by the RD and approved by the Hardrock Board of Directors.” This year, those runners are:
- Careth Arnold
- Courtney Dauwalter
- Tara Dower
- Jimmy Elam
- Tom Evans
- Caleb Olson
Caleb Olson winning the 2025 Western States 100. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Call for Comments
- Are you one of the lucky entrants for the 2026 event?
- From the runners listed above, who are your top picks to excel?
Tara Dower climbing up to the KT aid station during the 2024 Hardrock 100. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
