As Britain prepared for record high temperatures, there was a different sort of challenge to add to the discomfort of competitors in the Hardrock 100 race in Colorado, USA. This year's clash of the titans of mountain ultra-running on 15-16 July had to cope with thunderstorms and lightning in the San Juan Mountains (pictured) despite which both the men's and women's outright course records were smashed by 9min 26sec and 33min 48sec respectively.     

The course measured 102.5 miles this year after a few small alterations and participants had 33,000 feet of elevation and descent at an average altitude above 11,000 feet on the route that crosses 13 major mountain passes, with the highest point being 14,048 feet at Handies Peak. 

The event has been held every year since 1992 apart from being snowed off twice, cancelled due to forest fires once, and the inevitable Covid cancellation. Each year the race is run in the opposite direction and 2022 was in the 'slower' clockwise direction.

In these unlikely circumstances, both Kilian Jornet (Spain) and Courtney Dauwalter (USA) set new outright records in completely different styles. Journet came from behind in the men's race after a terrific battle with Francois D'Haene (France) and Dakota Jones (USA). Meanwhile, Dauwalter simply blasted off from the start to win by more than seven hours!

At the 44-mile checkpoint at Ouray, the three leaders were together and 12 minutes up on record schedule. By halfway, Jones had taken a big lead but was later to pay for his impetuosity as Jornet closed the deficit to take his fifth Hardrock 100 title in five starts in 21:36:34 from D'Haene (21:51:21) with Jones also beating 24 hours (23:06:19).

Courtney Dauwalter (26:44:36) was sixth overall and the first woman to kiss the Hardrock – the finishing ceremony where the athlete plants a smacker on an image of a ram's head on a huge block of stone mining debris instead of crossing a conventional finish line.

The female runners-up were Stephanie Case (Canada, 33:52:46) and Hannah Green (USA, 34:26:39) as 96 men and 19 women completed the course within the 48 hours time limit.

Full race information at the Hardrock 100 website and link to results here

Image courtesy Hardrock 100 on Facebook