France’s Mathieu Blanchard arrives at the 2025 Hardrock 100 acclimated, mentally prepared, and ready to run. In the following interview, Mathieu talks about what drew him to the event, how he’s spent the past several weeks in the area adjusting to the altitude, how he’s learning to deal with pressure, and the French men’s contingent lining up for this year’s event.
To learn more about who’s racing, check out our preview before following our live coverage during the race.
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Mathieu Blanchard Pre-2025 Hardrock 100 Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Bryon Powell of iRunFar here with Mathieu Blanchard before the 2025 Hardrock 100. How are you, Mathieu?
Mathieu Blanchard: I’m good. Thank you.
iRunFar: Welcome to Silverton.
Blanchard: Thank you. It’s a beautiful place. I love this area. Western style and it’s a nice discovery for me.
iRunFar: Yeah. What brings you to Hardrock?
Blanchard: What brings me to Hardrock? Do we wait for …
iRunFar: No, it’s okay.
Blanchard: Okay. Hardrock is one of the most legendary races in ultra-trail running. I started trail running in 2017, so less than 10 years, and it’s difficult to do all these legendary races in less than 10 years and even Hardrock is more difficult because we are only 100-ish to run it. So we have to be patient and this year it’s my year to run Hardrock. This is the year.
iRunFar: Yeah. So you call it legendary, but what aspects specifically do you, is it the history? Is it the competition? Is it the course?
Blanchard: Actually, it’s fun because when I discovered Hardrock, it was through the images and videos I saw about the race, but the videos I saw and then the Softrock I did, I mean the recon of the race, is really different. So first, it was legendary for me just because of the story I had read about the race. But when I did the recces it was really different from the feeling I had at the beginning. Because I feel that the photographers and videographers stay around the start line, the end line, it’s the same, but we never see the real Hardrock. I mean the Little Giant, all these super wild areas around Pole Creek, Handies [Peak]. I saw a video about Handies because there is parking close to Handies, the reservoir or something, American Basin.
iRunFar: Yeah.
Blanchard: Yeah. I discovered a new race from what I thought and it’s really, really more difficult, more wild, and more tough than what I thought. So it’s perfect for me because it’s the kind of races I like. I mean adventure and the survival mode as well. So it’s a good discovery.
iRunFar: Nice. How has your preparation gone for the race?
Blanchard: It’s still experimental because, as we know, there is altitude, and we never react the same from altitude. I did some tests in France with the chemoreceptor on the Ergo Cycle with all the tests and I didn’t react well to altitude. So, the doctor told me that I have to acclimatize a little bit longer than the others. So this is what I did. I came here three weeks ago, then I moved for the weekend at Western [States 100], but I got back and we really feel the evolution.
The first day when I ran around Leadville at above 14,000 feet elevation, it was super tough. I was bleeding from the nose all day. I woke up during the night 10 times to pee. It was really, really weird, the feeling I had in my body. But today it’s normal. I sleep all night. Yesterday I went on Handies for a picnic and I didn’t feel the altitude. So I guess I’m now ready for the race.
iRunFar: Yeah. Going back in time a little bit, you ran UTMB last year where you’ve had great success and you DNFd last year, but so did a ton of other men. Was there something bigger than just a problem with yourself? What happened broadly last year at UTMB?
Blanchard: Yeah. UTMB, it’s the most famous race with all the media and my career as a professional athlete went super fast and all this media solicitation, the community on the social networks, the partner. It pushed me, it put a lot of pressure on my shoulders and sometimes it’s difficult to train and to manage all the things. And I arrived at the start of UTMB super tired, I mean mentally. And during the training, as I was super stressed. Under stress, I started to feel pain in my body and this is the way when I can see that there is a problem mentally, my body wants to say something because I can’t see it. So this is what happened.
I felt a super big pain in my Achilles on the left side and I had to stop. But I went back with mental preparation with a guy I started, it was super nice and one month and a half later I went to Diagonale des Fous and everything was repaired just because I was able to manage this mental side with all the media and take a step back and run for the good things. And the good things for me is going for an adventure and not going for a victory.
iRunFar: And so that’s at the top of your mind going into Hardrock as well?
Blanchard: It’s the perfect race for me again because first it’s a new race for me. I discover the landscape and I can activate the adventure mode and then there are all these parameters to manage, the thunderstorm, we can get at the top, the cold, the hot in the valley, the altitude, the wildlife, the super technical terrain on the passes, and all the things we have to manage. Actually I love this kind of race. So I think I will be in a good mood to race this Hardrock.
iRunFar: Yeah. One other different thing for this race is you had a pacer at Western States, but not most of your other 100-mile races. How does having a pacer, or will you have a pacer, and how does that factor in?
Blanchard: Yeah. Actually I understand, what is the meaning of a pacer in the Hardrock. At the beginning I thought the pacer was like on the marathon, I mean someone who is in front of you and give you a pace. But here it’s more about security, because you lose the mobile phone network almost everywhere. And if you have a problem, if you turn your ankle, if you get a thunderstorm, and if you are alone, it can be very tricky. So you have to choose your pacer not only to give you the pace, but to manage the security around you because it’s super, super wild.
So, it’s a different approach than in Europe and I feel that it’s really, really useful because there is this polemic in France like, “Why in the U.S. they use a pacer? It’s not the trail running spirit.” But no. Here it’s more about security and we want to arrive alive at the finish line and this is the way I see the pacer here. So you have to choose someone who has experience, not only a good runner, but someone who knows the mountains and who can help you if there is a big problem.
iRunFar: And maybe even, I would suggest, to assist you, not by tying your shoe or giving you gels or something, but assist you before things go wrong, to help you stay safe before there’s a problem. Do you see that at all?
Blanchard: Yeah. Exactly. Because with the altitude, I felt that the brain doesn’t work like at low altitude and if you add on this altitude, the fatigue of the race, I mean you think like three-year-old children. So the pacer can think for you when you arrive at the station. He can manage maybe some stuff you have to do to continue your race in a good mood.
iRunFar: Yeah. And maybe that falls into the spirit of trail running itself. I know a lot of us like to run by ourselves in the mountains, but sometimes we like to run with friends and we help each other out or even competitors. Speaking of which, is there a separate French men’s category at this year’s Hardrock with you and Ludo [Pommeret] and Germain [Grangier]?
Blanchard: It seems that we will be at least three French elite athletes I guess, I don’t know exactly all the list, and one elite American who is Zach Miller. So this year we discussed with Ludo and Germain, we won’t take sport nutrition with us. We will eat directly on Zach’s quads during the race. So he will be a little bit lighter at the end, but not sure he will be able to run because we need a lot of energy altogether to go to the finish line.
iRunFar: So, it’s the French cannibal team?
Blanchard: Exactly.
iRunFar: What is the word for cannibal in French?
Blanchard: The same, cannibal.
iRunFar: All right. Well Zach, watch out for the cannibals. Good luck and have fun out there, Mathieu.
Blanchard: Thank you, Bryon.
