Ludovic Pommeret is fifty. He has now won Hardrock three times in a row and he did it clockwise in 21:11:36, twenty-two minutes faster than the overall record he already owned. There is no useful comparison. The race is too high and he is too patient.
Courtney Dauwalter made it 65 miles before her stomach turned, which at Hardrock is another way of saying the race started. She crested Handies at dusk, survived the night, and won her fourth Hardrock in four finishes in 26:03:10 — a new clockwise record, still just shy of Katie Schide's counterclockwise 25:50:23. Careth Arnold and Tara Dower filled out a podium that looked like Colorado had decided to keep the medals in-state except for the woman who already lives there in July.
Two months after Cocodona, the result is a thesis: Dauwalter can lose a 250 to Rachel Entrekin and still be the best 100-mile mountain racer alive. The next exam is Chamonix.
