His first time at the event, Jimmy Elam ran a brave race to finish second at the 2026 Hardrock 100. In the following interview, Jimmy talks about his all-in racing mentality, how he navigated such a challenging course on his first attempt, and how this podium finish at Hardrock compares to his other impressive race results.
Read our 2026 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 watch it.]
Jimmy Elam Post-2026 Hardrock 100 Interview Transcript
iRunFar: This is Gabe Joyce with iRunFar after the 2026 Hardrock 100 with our men’s second place, Jimmy Elam. Jimmy, how are you this morning?
Jimmy Elam: Yeah, feeling okay. It’s nice when you get your appetite back and you can just pound some food, because after the race, I was not in that place to do that. So eggs and bacon and pancakes and everything, what a spread here. Yeah.
iRunFar: It is wonderful afterwards. Well, let’s back up. Take us back through the race. I saw you up at Putnam Ridge pretty early on in the race. It seemed like you, Ludo [Pommeret], and Tom [Evans] were working real hard up there. How was the start and how’d that pan out?
Elam: In the moment, it didn’t feel like I was working too hard, but I was. I think a lot of the climbs earlier on in the day surprised me, because I’d feel amazing and then be like, “Oh, this is sustainable,” and it’s not, and I think it’s one of the unique things about this course, is because you’re already at a high altitude and progressively going up and up and up and up, it catches up too fast.
iRunFar: It does.
Elam: And then once it does, it’s hard to slow down enough to really recover well. So in retrospect, I do think it was a bit hot for me.
iRunFar: Yeah, that’s fair, and you did a ton of training on course all through June. How well do you think that training prepared you for the specific demands of a hundred miles of San Juan Mountains running on race day?
Elam: If I stayed in Midway[ [Utah], I would not have been prepared. I can tell you that. I don’t think I had to come out here for four or five weeks, but I had the opportunity. Norda was gracious enough to help me with that, and I was like, “I want to go all in,” and I’ve never really done that for a race before, and I knew Hardrock in all its uniqueness is just such a specialized course and race that I’d give myself the best shot at having a successful day by spending a solid month out here. So I’m already good at altitude, but I really wanted to work on my descending skills, and I’ve been telling people I could come back for another five years and still be honing in on those skills, because I still felt like that was the biggest thing I was lacking in performance.
iRunFar: Yeah. I think of you as being such a student or scholar of the sport, and I know you’ve had eyes on this race for a really long time. How was the experience, based on the expectations and vision you had beforehand? How’d it pan out in reality?
Elam: It was way harder than I could have ever imagined, and I know I have a few friends that would make fun of me, because after every hundred, I’m like, “That’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” but I mean, yeah, in retrospect, it’s just so different than anything I ever train on, and you have to come in just so prepared and confident, psychologically dialed, physically dialed, and I can see how for a lot of people, it takes many years to not only get in, but to have a successful day out here, because you need some luck on your side as well.
iRunFar: Yeah. Let’s get into your race performance then a little bit. So I know you said it maybe started a little hot. Is there a time of the race where you felt things were catching up to you, or were you feeling the impact of the smoke at all throughout the day?
Elam: Smoke wasn’t that bad for me. There’s just a couple small sections. Maybe it was like the Ouray area, but the heat was… It was a warm day, wasn’t too hot, but the race absolutely caught up to me, kind of going back to what I was saying a few minutes ago. I think I wanted to be more aggressive than usual. I wanted to set myself up well enough to podium. That was a really serious goal of mine more than any time goal, and I went out pretty hard at the beginning. I think we were under a course record pace for a while. I’m not sure if through what mile, but it was for a bit, and I saw Tom and I was like, we were back and forth a few times up to Kroger’s, before Krogers. So I was maybe using that as motivation to help him pull me a little bit.
Man, it really caught up to me at Pole Creek, and I was talking to Bryon Powell, and he was like, “Run Pole Creek, run Pole Creek,” and I kept that in my mind, and I was there and I didn’t run it. I mean, it was a mix of fast hiking, running, but I did not run nearly enough, and that’s where you can make up so much time. I think that’s probably where Ludo put the most time on the field, and everyone was just unbelievable, like what he did through that last 50k.
So yeah, if I was to ever do this again, which maybe I will, we’ll see. I’ll think about a few days, but that’s probably one thing I would really try to figure out, is how can I have a bit more energy there and set myself up well for running all of that.
iRunFar: Yeah. I’m glad to hear you’re considering coming back. Then with another eye to the future, I guess, do you have anything else planned for the rest of the summer or the rest of the year?
Elam: Yeah. So I’m signed up for Angels Crest [100 Mile], still on that mission, kind of checking off the classics and going back and forth a little bit, because I know it’s quite a different course than it usually is. So you still get the vibe out there. You still get some of the history and the culture with that race, and I was also considering Kodiak. I couldn’t do both, but I think especially after doing Hardrock, I think going to UTMB, it would feel so much easier this time around after coming from Hardrock. So I’m like, man, I could go and take an hour and a half off my UTMB time after a race like this, just having the foundation of Hardrock. It’s just a whole different race, and I was thinking it was going to be a little bit more similar to a UTMB race. It’s not. So maybe Kodiak if I don’t do Angels Crest, but we’ll see what happens. So kind of leaving it open for the next little bit of time.
iRunFar: Yeah, and maybe the last question I have for you is you have a laundry list of first place finishes at other races and course records. Taking second place at Hardrock, where does that rank for you amongst all those amazing achievements?
Elam: Man, that’s a really good question. I think it’s pretty special to podium at Hardrock and it’s got to be towards the very tip top. I did do the Mammoth 200 last fall. That’s up there. I’m not saying that I like 200s, I want to do anymore. I might be done forever, but Mammoth was, on an emotional level, just so special for me because it’s like my old home and I spent many years there, and close with Tim Tollefson, who I went to college with and ran with at Chico State. So kind of Mammoth probably takes the cake as just like the one I’ll be just so stoked on forever, just look back on and be like, maybe one of my best accomplishments, and making it through multiple nights surviving. So that was pretty cool, but Hardrock’s right there.
iRunFar: Yeah. As it should be. It’ll be interesting to see how you feel about that as you keep digesting it and all the calories as well. Alright. Well, thanks for talking with us, Jimmy.
Elam: Yeah.
iRunFar: This is Jimmy Elam after the 2026 Hardrock 100.
Elam: Thanks.
