5th Hardrock 100 Miler: report, pictures and results

Karl Meltzer just won his 5th Hardrock, in his fastest time ever! Karl clocked a stunning 24:38, running off the front the whole way, and very consistently. During every section he was strong, fluid, and focussed; his form looking quite different from everyone else in the field. At the finish he looked happy and alert; I commented on his very solid run, and he exclaimed (as only an ultra runner could),

“I peed the whole way!”

At age age 42, Karl is having a great year; this is his 3rd 100 mile win so far this season. For comparison, the last time he did this event, Karl ran a 28:59 behind Scott Jurek’s Course Record 26:08; Karl obliterated that for a new “counterclockwise” CR. Kyle Skagg’s breathtaking (heh-heh) 23:23 of last year still stands and was never challenged.

Diana Finkel, of South Fork, Colorado, is currently taking a very hard run at the overall Women’s Course Record; she started off blazing, leaving people speculating that she was overdoing it. At this point – the Kamm Traverse – she is on track to better by 1.5 hours Krissy Moehl’s outstanding CR set two years ago of 29:24. Diana is also a high altitude mountaineer … which doesn’t hurt on this course … and her pacer/boyfriend, Ben Woodbeck, has tried one 8,000 meter peak with her and is pacing the entire distance from Grouse to Finish. She is spending less than 30 seconds at each aid station, with the CR their goal from the outset. She ran and won her first Hardrock last year in 31:09.

As of this writing, Karl is the only finisher, but presumably will be followed by Troy Howard and Finkel. Scott Jaime and Jared Campbell are doing their usual back and forth, with Jared’s stomach going completely south after Telluride, allowing Scott and probably AJW to forge ahead.

The weather has been outstanding. Numerous storm cells threatened all day yesterday, resulting in some showers but mostly keeping the temps down. Overnight the skies were clear with no wind.

My guess is that it won’t be long before trekking poles become standard issue for Hardrock. Americans have been notoriously resistant to adopting them, even has the Euro’s have been benefitting from them for years. Indeed, all the former Tour De Mont Blanc entrants were using them very effectively during this race, including Karl, who carried them Start-Finish. He said,

“I’ve never used poles before. They rock. They keep your balance on the tricky stuff so your legs can just push you forward.”

UPDATE

Diana indeed powered to a remarkable 27:18, good for 3rd Overall. This time would have won the event many years! The times they are a’changin’ … a sub 30 hour now barely gets you into the top ten. The runners went out aggressive; a conservative approach would not bring most of them back to you.

Troy Howard was relatively unheralded, but came from the East Bay near sea level, and using a hyberbaric chamber for acclimatization, ran an outstanding 2nd place.

AJW should be noted for his 5th place finish, as he alone also ran the WS100 a few weeks ago.

Results and splits are posted here.






Thanks for report and pics to Buzz of MountainRunningBlog