France’s Mathieu Blanchard placed second at the 2025 Hardrock 100 after battling breathing issues that were cause for concern. In the following interview, Mathieu talks about wanting to start the race conservatively, choosing not to try to keep up with Ludovic Pommeret on the initial descents, the importance he placed on finishing the event and how that impacted his willingness to take risks, and a big project he has lined up for later this summer.
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.]
Mathieu Blanchard Post-2025 Hardrock 100 Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Bryon Powell of iRunFar here with Mathieu Blanchard after a second-place finish of the 2025 Hardrock 100. How are you?
Mathieu Blanchard: I’m good. I’m a finisher.
iRunFar: You are a finisher of the Hardrock 100.
Blanchard: I’m a finisher, so I’m super happy, but I’m not sure my body is still good today, but this is Hardrock.
iRunFar: Well, you’re smiling, so your mind must be happy.
Blanchard: Yeah. I’m very happy because becoming a finisher of the Hardrock is, you get in another world in ultra trail scenery. So, I’m now a Hardrocker, but I discussed with Ludo[vic Pommeret], and he told me that if you want to be a true Hardrocker, you have to do it in both sides. So, I’m a half Hardrocker, and so I’m happy.
iRunFar: But you finished it. You say it’s maybe another level of 100 miler. What makes Hardrock another level? Because you’ve done Diagonale des Fous, UTMB, many other races, Western States.
Blanchard: Yes. But all these races has a path everywhere.
iRunFar: Yeah.
Blanchard: And on this race, you have to make your own path. I mean, on the real path, but in image way. I mean, during the night, you have to find all the solutions to adapt on this cumulative altitude. Because the altitude is easy to acclimatize before because you spend six hours, ten hours to train, and it’s okay after one week, two weeks. But spending more than 20 hours, 30 hours for the last, it’s a totally different way to race, and you really have to discover it during the race. You can’t do it during the training.
iRunFar: There’s no substitute.
Blanchard: So, literally your brain stopped after 20, after 15 hours in this kind of altitude. So, it’s very tough to find the solution when you have different problems and your brain doesn’t work anymore. So, it was another way to discover this beautiful sport for me. And, yes, yeah, during the night, passing Grant Swamp Pass, you have to choose where you want to pass. And yeah,
iRunFar: That’s not normal for a race.
Blanchard: Yeah. It’s not just a race. It’s more than a race. This Hardrock is, it’s an adventure. It’s a journey. And it’s not all about just running, actually.
iRunFar: Yeah. And there’s so many things to manage. You say your brain doesn’t work anymore, but you’re also managing your energy, your stomach, your legs, your everything.
Blanchard: Exactly. It’s more complicated at this altitude. And it’s not 2,000 meters. I’m used to running in the Alps, or in Diagonale [des Fous], we go up to 2,000 meter altitude. Altitude is not just altitude. 2,000 meters is not 4,000. It’s really, really different, so it’s another world.
iRunFar: And the altitude itself is a problem. And then this year, we also had heat and smoke.
Blanchard: Yeah, exactly. The smoke was really tough. The first climb is pretty hard. And as we are fresh, we push a little bit. And, after 5k, 30 minutes, I started to feel my lungs struggling a lot. And I was like, Oh, I hope that the wind will come because to push a little bit this smoke. But I was very scared at the start, and we discussed a little bit with Zach Miller on this first climb. And we’re like, oof. We hope that the smoke will move because it will be so tough.
iRunFar: Even before the race, you were questioning, like, what? How do I do this? Like, how do I manage it?
Blanchard: When we receive the messages from the organization saying that we are really in the limits of for the health, and they almost canceled the race. And when we saw the sunrise and the blur, blurry by the smog, it was really scary.
iRunFar: Yeah.
Blanchard: It’s not, altitude was not sufficient, so they add smog and heat. So, the perfect combo to our race.
iRunFar: And a little bit of vertical gain.
Blanchard: Yeah, exactly.
iRunFar: 4,000 meters. So those are a lot of the challenges. Like, what was, for you, the most difficult part of the race?
Blanchard: Actually, it was my first Hardrock. So, every time I do the first time a race, I really want to finish it.
iRunFar: Mm hmm.
Blanchard: So, I’m still a performance addict. So, for sure, I will push, but I won’t take all the risks I can take when I go for a race a second time or third time. So, it’s fun because I felt super good at the beginning of the race. So, I didn’t take risks, but I was first for the first 40k, but I didn’t push that much. I was super fluid in the first downhill, uphill, so I was moving comfortably. And then, at 45k approximately in the downhill after this very wide path to Sherman, Ludo[vic Pommeret] started to make the move.
iRunFar: On the downhill of course.
Blanchard: On the downhill. I’m a good downhiller, but he was in the risk way.
iRunFar: Okay.
Blanchard: So, I didn’t want to follow him because 45k, it was too early for me. And I knew that the race was super long and I wanted to finish it. So, I didn’t make the move, and I stayed with Zach and Germain [Grangier]. And then the course went super well until Ouray, where I pushed a little bit more, and where I made a move on Zach and Germain.
iRunFar: Before or after the checkpoint?
Blanchard: Before the checkpoint in the downhill after Governors Pass. I think we passed the pass of Governor,
iRunFar: Engineer Pass.
Blanchard: Engineer Pass, sorry. Engineer Pass. Thank you. My brain is still destroyed.
iRunFar: I understand.
Blanchard: Yeah. After Animas Fork, approximately 80k in the race. And I push in the downhill and we pass together with Zach and Germain. And I think I arrived in Ouray maybe 10 minutes ahead of them. And it went super well. And I was like, Okay. Now the race start. We still have 10, 11 hours to the finish. And then the next climb was good to, to Kroger’s Canteen to Telluride. And it’s after Chapman, I started to lose my lungs. And now it’s super difficult for me to breathe. And it’s a big problem. My doctor was super scared and myself. I did it already one time in my life. It was in Yukon Arctic Ultra, last March.
iRunFar: Mm hmm.
Blanchard: And it’s super, super scary because you can’t breathe, and it feels like the oxygen doesn’t go in your muscles and all your body. And the more you go up, the more it’s difficult. So, I was super scared because above 3,500 meters, I was really not able to walk anymore. And I did three steps, and I had to stop on the poles, breathe. And I was feeling that I’m dying, actually.
iRunFar: So, did you ever think you might not finish?
Blanchard: Yeah. I felt I had to stop at Grant Swamp Pass. It was impossible to move. But I find the resources to move. And hopefully, in the downhill, I didn’t need much air to go down. So, I was able to move, but this is where the race became so hard. I had to stop at KT. I slept in the chair with the fire. And yeah, I was in the zombie mode at the end of the day.
iRunFar: Did you ever think you would be taking a nap in a 100-mile race?
Blanchard: No, I never took a nap, but it was the first time I took a five-minute nap. Otherwise, I wasn’t able to move. So, yes, globally, I’m happy to have been able to, [clears throat] Sorry.
iRunFar: No problem.
Blanchard: To finish the race, but a little bit frustrated because we were on the course record pace all the way. And because of this, these lungs, this problem we can’t control, it feels that I just want to come back.
iRunFar: In a good way. You had a good experience, but you have something else to do.
Blanchard: Exactly. But globally, I’m super happy to finish the race. And this is ultra. We can’t control everything. And yesterday, it was tough for my lungs, and that’s it. I found the solution to pass through it. And this is what I will remember.
iRunFar: Yeah. Did you have a favorite memory from the race? A moment or a section or?
Blanchard: No. Just all the race. The experience of all the people on the race, in the aid station. It’s really, we feel that the people are here really because they love the, it’s not just a race. It’s an event. It’s a party. And we feel it, actually. It’s authentic. And when we are passionate about a sport, about these sports, feeling this passion through the other people who are around is beautiful. So, yeah, this is something that I remember, and this is maybe the things I love the most.
iRunFar: How is that different? Because there’s a lot of, at some of the early checkpoints at UTMB, at Saint Gervais, or at Diagonale des Fous, there’s a lot of enthusiasm. How is it different? This is so much smaller. How is it different at Hardrock?
Blanchard: Yeah. It’s smaller, but again, one person here, feels like 10 people. When you are at the top of a pass, you know way before the aid station arrive, because you hear the scream and the cry before the aid station. And you are like, Wow, there are maybe 100 people there, but when you arrive, there are only 10. And this is the big difference. Again, people are so passionate. So passionate that it’s extreme how they express their passion. And, yeah, this is the main difference. We are only 150 people with the bibs, and there are maybe, I don’t know, 500 people around the race. But it feels like we are 10,000.
iRunFar: It’s so cool.
Blanchard: So, this is the main difference for me. Yes.
iRunFar: Yeah. Do you have any, I know it’s just after the race, but do you have anything else planned for your season?
Blanchard: I don’t know yet. I need to go back tomorrow in France. I wanted to stay one more week, but with my lungs, it’s super, I need to check it as soon as possible. The idea was to maybe participate in the [Trail and Mountain Running] World Champ[ionships] in September. We had the French Championships the same day as Hardrock. So, it was yesterday. And so, this is where the selection will be made during this weekend. We will have the selection in the next ten days.
iRunFar: But it’s not just from that race. It’s also,
Blanchard: No. It’s all the French guys who wants to participate in it. So, they will have to,
iRunFar: So, you’re under consideration?
Blanchard: Yeah. I’m considering it. But first I need to repair my lungs. And, yeah, we will see. If it’s not the World Champs, I don’t know yet. I will be at UTMB race for the first time without racing. So, I will be able to see the backstage of the race.
iRunFar: Yeah. You seemed to have a good time at the behind the scenes at Western States.
Blanchard: Exactly. So, it seems cool. And then we will see, for the next of the season. I have a big project. I will cross the ocean on the sailboats in a race in October. And we start in France, and we will finish in the Caribbean Island in Martinique. And there is a race there, which is the TransMartinique. It’s a big ultra that crosses all the island. So, it’s a nice project for the end of the year. It crosses,
iRunFar: It’s a long commute to get to a race.
Blanchard: Yeah. Exactly. It’s a long commute, but it will be fun to see how the body evolves on the sailboat for fifteen days. Because why not. In the future going, not too far, but I mean maybe in Canary Island. I mean,
iRunFar: Madeira?
Blanchard: Madeira by sailboat. It’s only three, four days from France. Why not go there by boat? But I need to check how the body evolves on the boat to see if it’s possible to take the start of an ultra race after this journey.
iRunFar: That’s fun. On the World Championships side, you would have had a pretty good French team, from the Hardrock field. Yeah?
Blanchard: Sorry. Sorry for that.
iRunFar: No, no. It’s fun. And Ludo, how many, I forget how many times Ludo’s been to the World Championships. He’s maybe the uncle or grandfather for the team.
Blanchard: Yeah. But this year I think he wants to go to Diagonale. So yeah.
iRunFar: Yeah. Well, congratulations on your great run, and I hope to see you back here.
Blanchard: Thank you, Bryon.
