Germain Grangier placed third at the 2025 Hardrock 100, completing a French sweep of the men’s podium. In the following interview, Germain talks about running with the lead group in the early miles of the race, Ludovic Pommeret’s descending ability, his feelings about having to climb Camp Bird Road, and getting to watch a beautiful sunset while ascending to Kroger’s Canteen.
Read our 2025 Hardrock 100 results article for the full play-by-play on this year’s race.
[Editor’s Note: If you are unable to see the video above, click here to access it.]
Germain Grangier Post-2025 Hardrock 100 Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Bryon Powell de iRunFar ici avec Germain Grangier apres, Oh. Bryon Powell of iRunFar after the 2025 Hardrock 100. How are you, Germain?
Germain Grangier: Great. That was a great French intro.
iRunFar: I’m trying. You’re learning English. I’m learning French.
Grangier: That was good. Yeah.
iRunFar: You were third this weekend. How did that feel?
Grangier: Yeah. I feel like more than just the place, yeah. For me, after 2024, tough year, it feels cool to be back on the 100-mile distance and finally be able to run the whole thing with my legs. So that’s the main takeaway for me.
iRunFar: Not to finish, but also were you able to move well after 12 hours?
Grangier: Yeah. That was the, I had a lot of doubts because I didn’t really figure out what was happening in my legs. So yeah, when I was able to run after 15 hours, like around Telluride running well, so I was really happy about that. So yeah, that feels good here.
iRunFar: To back up a little bit, I saw you at Maggie Gulch around mile 15, and you were, I don’t know, a minute something behind Ludo[vic Pommeret] and Mathieu [Blanchard]. Did it feel like you were all racing right there? Because you were not running as a group. Were you all pushing one another or what did that feel like?
Grangier: Yeah. I feel like we were just like, everyone was in his own space, I would say. And, yeah, in that stretch, it’s kind of cool because you’re above treeline, so you see so far, and you can quickly check if you’re like, having good pace, if you’re. So yeah, I think we were running around each other, but not like, close.
iRunFar: Yeah.
Grangier: No personal space. But yeah, I think that was the mood. Everyone was just in his own pace.
iRunFar: So there was no French team running together, having a good talk?
Grangier: No. At least for me, no. That was not that, plus it started, I think we started faster than the previous years. Because the split in Cunningham was way faster than it used to be.
iRunFar: You were at the very front, even through eight people at Maggie. You were like eight people in Maggie under course record.
Grangier: Yeah.
iRunFar: But not under like 24-hour pace. And you guys were well under course-record pace.
Grangier: Yeah.
iRunFar: So, did it feel like you were pushing really hard?
Grangier: No, it didn’t. So yeah. So that was the thing.
iRunFar: The problem maybe? [laughs]
Grangier: Yeah. Maybe the problem as we hold like, kind of like, we are not under any course record. Maybe we started too fast. So, yeah, we don’t.
iRunFar: Who was setting the pace from the early going?
Grangier: Mathieu and Zach [Miller] went out pretty fast on the first, Little Giant climb.
iRunFar: Okay.
Grangier: We could really feel the smoke on this climb. It was really smoky.
iRunFar: Were you thinking at all about even not racing or?
Grangier: Yeah. Like, I was with Ludo around in this climb and we were chatting. We were a bit, yeah, a bit worried about that.
iRunFar: Your health.
Grangier: Yeah.
iRunFar: Whether you’re in the front or the back.
Grangier: Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. I mean, actually last night I was coughing a lot, and had a lot of mucus in my lungs, but it’s better today.
iRunFar: When did things start to spread out? Because like you said, for a while you can see everybody.
Grangier: Yeah.
iRunFar: When did there start to be gaps?
Grangier: Yeah. I think Ludo was just extremely strong in the downhill. So that’s where, for me, he had the main difference. Every downhill, he was taking a lot of time on us. So. we had this little group with Mathieu and Zach, I would say, after Burrows.
iRunFar: Mm hmm.
Grangier: And then after Animas Forks, Mathieu and I and Zach were like, let’s say 30 second apart still. And we did the whole climb like that. After things spread a little bit out in Ouray, I think Mathieu has ten minutes on me, and it took another ten minutes in the last section to Silverton. And that’s where things spread out. But yeah, Ludo was just unbelievable.
iRunFar: Yeah.
Grangier: It’s just like, I think in every section of the race, he was extremely strong, and it’s super impressive. Yeah.
iRunFar: Ludo’s descending ability is incredible.
Grangier: Yeah.
iRunFar: People were joking. The French guys were all joking about Zach’s quads before the race, but Ludo has massive quads.
Grangier: Yeah. It’s crazy. Just like, yeah. It’s crazy. He just opens up his stride and goes down with the poles, and then it looks like crazy, but it, yeah.
iRunFar: Maybe a little.
Grangier: Yeah. He’s, no. He’s really controlling the things, but he’s just like, yeah. Every downhill opens a gap with us and we were like, all chatting together. Like, if we do two or three downhills like that, we don’t even know if we can finish the race. You know?
iRunFar: So, there’s no point he is pushing harder. He’s really, really good.
Grangier: Yeah. I think he is just like, in his home world going downhill. It was cool.
iRunFar: Yeah. So even at Ouray, you’re 10 minutes apart.
Grangier: Yeah.
iRunFar: Did at any point it feel like you were no longer racing other like, Mathieu? Did it ever at any point like, it’s just like, oh, I’m here myself. I don’t know.
Grangier: Yeah. I think that, yeah. I could see Mathieu most of the time, like at Kroger’s I could see him. Like, I could see the headlamps all the time. So that was kind of a good point to me that I would still be in the race. But yeah, after KT I think, my race mode kind of shut down. You know, I was just like, Yeah, I’m going to finish that. But it was hard to find motivation to keep going.
iRunFar: I think this would be exhausting, because you’re kind of racing the first 90 miles.
Grangier: Yeah.
iRunFar: Or maybe more than 90 miles.
Grangier: Yeah. But that was cool. I had a pacer to remind me to still be in kind of race mode. But yeah, I must admit, the last two hours, now looking back, I was more like, Okay, I’ll just finish this.
iRunFar: Survive a little bit.
Grangier: Yeah. Exactly.
iRunFar: But if you were that close, and there was no huge gap at any point, relatively speaking, you couldn’t have had a long time worth of horrible feelings or?
Grangier: Yeah.
iRunFar: Like, no horrible spots. Yeah?
Grangier: Yeah. I had for sure some ups and down during the race, but I think I managed it pretty well. And also, with my legs I took more conservative stuff, I would say.
iRunFar: Mm hmm.
Grangier: So, it helps me to kind of smooth the whole race with no big risk. So.
iRunFar: That’s cool.
Grangier: That’s how I approached it.
iRunFar: Were there any, aside from energy in your legs, was there anything that went wrong? Anything breaking or big falls or?
Grangier: No. I just broke poles, but you know, it’s fine. It’s part of the game.
iRunFar: Where’d you do that?
Grangier: At the American Pass.
iRunFar: Okay. At the bottom of it.
Grangier: Yeah. So, it was just like, hiking with one pole. And then in a downhill when, you know, the poles get stuck between. Because I think that’s the first race I used the poles a lot in the downhill.
iRunFar: Yeah.
Grangier: Yeah. It’s kind of the,
iRunFar: Did it work well?
Grangier: Yes. Specifically for Hardrock because it’s so steep and slippery. You need the poles in the downhill. Yeah.
iRunFar: What was your favorite experience or moment or section of the race?
Grangier: I think I really liked the sunset on the Virginias Pass. That was really nice. And I actually really like the Cunningham place. Even if it’s early in the race, I just like this place. It’s like, in between mountains. It feels like you’re really in the mountains, so I like it. Yeah.
iRunFar: That’s cool. One thing that I noticed after the race is you were eating peanut M and M’s. Everybody has a… were you eating like, very specific sports nutrition as well? Or how did you mix real food, even if it’s candy, with sports nutrition?
Grangier: Yeah. So, I have sports nutrition during the race, but some, yeah, M and M’s at an aid station.
iRunFar: Yeah.
Grangier: And yeah, I try to eat some solid food sometimes. And I had, what’s the name of the Kroger’s, pierogi?
iRunFar: Pierogi. Yeah.
Grangier: That was really good.
iRunFar: No mezcal?
Grangier: No, no. [laughs] No, because I had wine into the ride.
iRunFar: You had a nice charcuterie.
Grangier: Yeah.
iRunFar: Did you actually have a sip of wine?
Grangier: No. But I didn’t know it was like, you know, a surprise. They surprised me. I was a bit shocked when I heard it right. I was like, what’s that?
iRunFar: Did you eat any of it?
Grangier: No.
iRunFar: Of course not. But it made you smile?
Grangier: If it was like, one or two hours from the finish, I would have done it. But I was like, you know.
iRunFar: It’s a risk.
Grangier: Yeah. It’s a long way.
iRunFar: Yes. Well, it’s only three climbs left.
Grangier: Yeah. Yeah. It’s what my person told me. Okay. Only three climbs. It’s like, okay.
iRunFar: And how were those three climbs?
Grangier: I think the good thing is that they are getting smaller and smaller. But yeah. You stay up high and it’s super dark. I didn’t get to run on Grant Swamp Pass before the race. So that was a nice discovery, I would say.
iRunFar: Yeah. It’s kind of nice to have something new during the race.
Grangier: Yeah. You see this flashing light at the top, and you know, you kind of don’t have the good distance reference at night. So, you think it’s closer than it is, but then it’s never coming.
iRunFar: Yeah. I mean, it’s only the day after the race, but if you had another chance to run this, would you?
Grangier: Yeah. Maybe in the downhill.
iRunFar: Downhill?
Grangier: Yeah. Because it’s so smooth, so that’s kind of cool.
iRunFar: The other direction.
Grangier: Yeah.
iRunFar: This is, I guess, the ramps up, walls down year.
Grangier: Yeah. Exactly. Yeah.
iRunFar: But you’d prefer the walls up, ramps down?
Grangier: I don’t know. Yeah. I mean, that Camp Bird Road is like, it’s a long stretch. Yeah.
iRunFar: Yeah. Anything else on your calendar for the year, or will you decide that later?
Grangier: Yeah. I think I’ll decide later. I’ll probably want to run another 100 miles, but I don’t know which one. Yeah. We’ll see. Yeah.
iRunFar: Well, congratulations on your great run here.
Grangier: Thank you. Thanks a lot.
