Hardrock 100 race report
Intro, qualifying, preparation.
Hardrock Hundred Endurance Run is known as one of the hardest 100 mile races in the world, and the reason for it is not 33,000ft of elevation gain and the same amount of loss, or rugged rocky sliding trails of San Juans, in my opinion (and probably it is the case for every other runner who lives at the sea level) the hardest thing about Hardrock is definitely the altitude. The lowest points of Hardrock are Ouray aid station which is at 7680ft of altitude (which is the highest you can get in WA state without ice axe, crampons and roped climbing team) and Telluride aid station at 8,750ft, for the whole duration of the race you are at the average altitude of 11,000ft, you cross over one of Colorado 14ers (Handies peak) at mile 37, and go up and above 13,000ft many more times. Every time I was above 12,000ft it felt really hard to hike steep uphills. Downhills and more gradual climbs felt okay. Since I've already had an experience of a high altitude race before (Speedgoat 50k back in 2014 - and it only goes up to 11,000 three times!!! but I had zero acclimation then), I knew that the only goal for Hardrock was to finish.
Also about a year ago, I decided that Hardrock 2021 will be my last ultra race. So in addition to the finishing goal, my other goals were to have fun, and to live through this experience as fully as possible. Meaning that I was not going to blast through the aid stations in seconds and only eat gels for the whole duration of the race as I usually do, I was going to sit, relax, enjoy the hot cooked to order food, spend time with the crew and volunteers. Also I was going to have that tequila shot at Krogers.
The only thing which is harder than finishing Hardrock 100 is getting into Hardrock 100. There are three separate lotteries for participation in Hardrock: never started (for people who have zero Hardrock finishes), veterans (for people with 5+ Hardrock finishes), and everyone else. Chances of getting in to Hardrock for veterans category are quite good, for else they can be described as decent, and for Never they are pretty much non existent. Every year you are not getting selected in the lottery doubles your tickets for the next years lottery. In order to participate in the lottery you must run one of the harder 100 mile races from the list posted on Hardrock website (a qualifier). The qualifier is only good for two years, so if you want to stay in the lottery and keep growing your chances you must run a qualifier every two years.
I applied for Hardrock for the first time in 2013, and then I applied every single year until 2019. For the 2019th race I was drawn for the Never waitlist, in 15th position. Usually only 5-6 people get in from the Never waitlist, and 15th on the Never waitlist means you will not get in period. 2019th race got canceled because of high snow levels on the course. By the time of the cancellation my waitlist position dropped to 13th. Still no chances. And then COVID happened. Hardrock was cancelled once again, and they decided to have another lottery for the 2021, but only for else and veterans. Not only they left Never entrants list as is, they also moved first 20 people on the waitlist to the entrants list. I was 13th, so I was in. It only took me 8 years and a global pandemic to finally get in.
People ask why there are so little women in Hardrock. My friend called it an "old gentlemen's club" after watching the awards ceremony. I think the reason is simple: you need to spend 8-10 years in the lottery to have the slightest chance of getting in, and female participation in hard 100 mile races (all 100 mile races from Hardrock qualifying list are hard!) has only increased recently (while still being quite low). Here is your answer and I hope the changes they introduced this year will fix it, though I still don't know any details and there are still a lot of questions about this change.
Anyway my training was softly speaking not ideal. We had (near?) record amounts of snow in Western WA this year and everything high and exciting was still covered in snow during my training. So I literally did all my training on my local Tiger mountain (height 3,005ft) which is obviously awesome and much much better than what people from midwest or whatever have (I am not even sure what midwest is, so don't judge me if I am wrong;)), but it is really fucking boring to run a lot on the same trails day after day for months. Basically I ran the least amount of miles compared to all other 100 mile races I've run before.
I was barely running 30 mile weeks until April, then I raced Badger mountain challenge 50k and realized how bad my shape was (though this race is the worst possible preparation for Hardrock and the worst possible race for me personally - too flat and too hot, I have not enjoyed it and honestly I hated the course), hoped it was a good kick in the butt to start training, but it wasn't :) I ran Tillamook burn 50M one month later, being in what I think is a decent 50K shape, but not good enough for a 50 miler. Tillamook was however a much better race for me than Badger, much better suiting my running style - with long gradual climbs and the same kind of descents all in the forest, the weather was perfect, and I enjoyed it a lot, even though I was a little bit undertrained for a 50 miler (on 40 miles per week training).
After Tillamook while sitting near the fire in my campsite I reached out to Anna Frost and asked her if she will help me to go through the last two months of Hardrock training. For the first time in my life, my biggest problem was not having no idea what I was doing (my first 100) or being injured (all 100s after 2015), my problem was a complete absence of motivation to train. I knew that I can finish Hardrock, I knew that there was not a chance for me of placing anywhere near podium at Hardrock (with Courtney Dauwater, Sabrina Stanley, Darcy Picue and Megan Hicks lining up this year - all living at the altitude, having huge Hardrock course experience - even Courtney who was a first timer, but lives in Leadville and obviously spent a lot of time on the course - and just being WAY STRONGER runners than me, my best chance was to take 5ths if I don't screw up, and I ALWAYS screw up during the 100 ;)), also I was finally climbing as well as I have always known I am capable of, and Hardrock was this little annoying thing which was not allowing me to reach my climbing potential. Having a third person involved, someone I couldn't complain to about motivation, someone who didn't care about my climbing goals, was just what I needed to switch my focus to Hardrock.
So I had 3 good weeks of training in May and two weeks of even better training in June under Anna's observation (only up to 70 miles per week, but all with a significant climbing). Also for the last two months I did all my long runs with poles. I already have lots of upper body strength from rock climbing, so unlike most typical ultra runners switching to poles wasn't too hard for me. The only problem was a complete absence of any kinds of tutorials on how to properly use them, but fortunately I am a native Russian speaker, and I found a really good Youtube channel in Russian which included videos about running and hiking with poles in ultra races.
Anyway by the end of my last training cycle I got sick. Sore throat, clogged left ear and sneezing. LOTS OF SNEEZING. I still climbed mount Rainier while being sick because I thought that the heat wave will allow me to summit it in shorts and tank top lol, but apparently it was super windy and the wind was FREEZING. I was unable to breath through the nose, so hours of breathing through the mouth left me with chest pain which I was worried might turn into pneumonia. But it didn't :) I sneezed a lot for another week, but it mostly resolved by the race day.
The training was not ideal, but there was one thing which separated Hardrock from all my other races since 2015 - I was not injured. My hamstrings were finally almost at 100%, and I had no other major health issues. Long time ago I learned one important thing about starting a 100 mile race - it is better to start a little bit undertrained, than a little bit injured. So, despite of a not ideal training cycle I was confident in my both goals for the Hardrock - to finish and to have fun. Well, also I kinda hoped for a sub-35 finish ;)
On July 3rd me and my husband Nik packed my Subaru Outback with way too much shit and headed to Colorado through Boise (where I was able to do one short trail run) and SLC (where I had to do a treadmill 5 miler). We arrived to Colorado Monday night. We camped in mount Evans area because: a) you can drive all the way up to the 14k summit, b) there's bouldering. Bouldering wasn't successful at all, because with 6 miles of hiking required (roundtrip) with crashpads at the altitude, by the time we reached the boulders I was so exhausted I couldn't climb. So out ticklist includes one V2 for the whole trip (well, we only climbed once outdoors :)
We also spend a couple of days in Boulder with our friend Dima, and drove to Rocky Mountain National Park in attempt to climb Longs Peak, but failed because Nik got too tired after way too many high altitude activities over the last 5 days ;). We did a fun loop around Mt Lady Washington though.
On Sunday July 11 I spent the day in Boulder resting, shopping, doing laundry and going to the Spot bouldering gym while Nik and Dima drove to the MTB park for some downhill riding. When they came back Nik had his left pinky in the splint (and buddy taped to the ring finger - so two fingers were now unusable) because he broke it in MTB accident. He already seen the surgeon, no surgery is needed, but he can't weight it for another 6 weeks. Anyway bouldering was out of question, but we came back to mount Evans anyway for another two days and did a couple more fun hikes. Our campground was at 10,000ft, mt Evans is 14,000, Boulder is only 5,000 but we only spent two nights there. Generally I felt good about my acclimation, but it ended up not being enough after all. Slava who was to pace me joined us on the 13th (which also ended up not being enough).
In the evening of the July 14th we finally reached Silverton (9,300ft). Our Airbnb was only one block away from the start, but it was also on the second floor and hiking up the stairs felt way too hard which kinda scared me :) Our friends from WA Alec and Kate joined us on the last day, so the crew was here: pacer Slava and 3 crew members who were not planning to run: Nik (with a broken pinky), Kate and Alec. The last three crewed for me before (Nik at all 100s and many other shorter races, Kate at Western States and Cascade Crest and Alec at Cascade Crest), so they knew the drill.
The race
Insert a scary course profile picture here.
Every time you hear about Hardrock you hear keywords like "low key", "community", "ambiance" (this one is from Kilian Jornet mostly), "family", etc. Honestly I have not seen that many people at the ultra race start since Western States in 2013. I would definitely replace "low key" with "hype" ;) All other key words are true, I can confirm :)
The weather forecast was for the thunderstorms both days so I carried lots of shit with me all the way: rain jacket, rain pants, good gloves, emergency rain coat, plus my usual light windstopper jacket and warm arm sleeves.
I ran counterclockwise race, and it starts with a long flat section, and the thing that immediately separates Hardrock from all other races was how many older folks were running with me. Usually I would pull ahead of them pretty soon, but not at Hardrock, these are some very strong older folks ;) Anyone I would talk to was either a 5 times finisher, or a 10 times finisher, or a 20 times finisher. There were very little first timers though I knew their (our ;)) participation was 20 people more than normal. So much experience!
I printed the course description just before we left for our trip, but only started reading it the morning of the race, and obviously I wasn't able to finish it. I do not suggest repeating my mistake, because if I did finish reading it, maybe I wouldn't have been that surprised with number of 13,000+ peaks and passes I was about to climb. I was scared of Handies Peak, but I had no idea what was waiting for me on the last fourth of the course. I was pretty sure that all hard parts of the course are over once I am past Krogers and what will be left is just an easy walk to the finish with a couple of small easy climbs. Little did I know ;)
The first climb up to Little Giant pass (13,000ft) was pretty easy though quite slow, I felt completely out of breath once we reached 12,000 and was barely keeping up with Neal Taylor who is 58 years young and (now) has a whooping 11 Hardrock finishes ("only" 10 when I ran with him :)). He was nice enough to answer all my questions, shook his head when I said I had no idea where we were going because I haven't finished reading the manual (and honestly I forgot everything I read - too many unfamiliar names ;) Neal was one of multiple nice people I met during this race, and I am thankful to them all and in awe of them all. I know what Hardrock family is now, thanks to them :) The downhill felt great, it was steep and technical, kind of the downhill I am better than average at.
First aid station is only at 9 miles and Nik was waiting for me there. I immediately swallowed the gel I have never tried before (new more liquid-y GU) - something every single ultra text book suggests to never do, but unlike most ultra runners I have a stomach made of steel and I can ingest pretty much anything, or so I thought...
until the climb from Cunningham Gulch aid station to the Green mountain/Stony Pass Ridge/Buffalo Boy Ridge (13,200ft). On that climb I started feeling nauseous. Let me quickly mention here that I have never puked in an ultra race (or any race) before. Actually the last time I puked was on December 17, 2018 when I turned 37 and had way too many Negronies in Metropolitan in Las Vegas (fun times!). Basically I do not have stomach problems when I run. Even when I do, I shit, but I never puke.
On that climb up to Stony Pass I realized that I was about to have my first ultra running puke ever. And I was barely on mile 10 of a 100 mile race (facepalm). I was getting slower and slower and more and more people were passing me. I think Neal slowed down to wait for me... I hope not :\ Anyway eventually I stepped off the trail, announced that I was going to puke, received approval of the whole line of runners and shoved two fingers into my mouth. I dry heaved a couple of times but nothing happened. No sweet release of throwing up for me :( Well, it was what it was, so I kept on going. It was the only time in the race when I thought of the possibility of DNF. I needed to turn this around, and I needed it soon.
I reached Maggie Gulch aid station and complained about feeling sick. I knew I have to eat while it was still low in altitude (only now while writing this report I realize that Maggies is at almost 12,000ft lol), but nothing looked good except for the watermelon. I had some, and a nice volunteer gave me some saltines to go (which unfortunately felt too dry to swallow). I was not only not able to eat, I also wasn't able to drink. It felt like everything I put inside me got stuck just above the belt which I used to carry my hiking poles. I felt stuffed and nauseous. Also I haven't peed once since starting the race. Something was definitely off.
I barely made it to the Pole Creek aid station (mile 19.6 and at 11,460 ft). I had one deviled egg there, and again complained about being sick. Another nice lady volunteer offered me Tums. I had one right there, and carried another one to the finish. I truly believe that this lady (so sorry I can't remember her name) and Betsy Nye have saved me from the DNF.
Betsy Nye is a legend (SEVENTEEN HARDROCK FINISHES!!!). There are two Betsys who finish Hardrock pretty much every single year since forever, and I was saved by one of them. She saw me at the Pole Creek AS feeling and looking like shit, and she didn't offer to, but she kinda just stuck with me for the next section. I didn't want to anyhow affect her race (some people hate running with other people because it puts you out of your comfortable pace - you run way too fast or way too slow, and mile 20 of Hardrock is where you want your pace to be comfortable), but she ran ahead of me and I ran behind and we chatted non stop for this whole flatter/runnable section. I stopped feeling miserable, and I somehow forgot about my problems. It was a long section and it's on low-ish elevation, plus Tums, not sure what exactly, but something finally made my stomach work, and I finally started wanting to pee (which I did just before entering Sherman aid station - mile 28.7 and at 9600ft). Thank you, Betsy N and the lady volunteer at the Pole Creek!
So I was approaching Sherman, and I took some time of this easy downhill running to reassess my situation. I was finally feeling good, but the biggest climb of the race up to Handies Peak (14,048ft) was just ahead. My issues were probably caused by the high altitude or maybe by this gel type I have never had before. It was impossible to figure it out which one exactly now, and while the altitude was not avoidable, I wasn't going to eat this type of gel again for sure ;) So my goal was to eat really well WHILE at Sherman and while feeling good, because I wasn't sure if I would be able to eat anything during my climb up Handies if the shit hits the fan again once I am above 12,000ft.
Sherman is the first big aid station of the race after Cunningham Gulch, but it is only 4x4 accessible, so no crew there, but lots and lots of volunteers and they had the party going! I was assigned a nice high school aged girl as my personal assistant, she had a huge smile and was ready to do literally anything for me. I ordered the quesadilla and she stayed with me and chatted with me while I was waiting for it. Then her mom joined us and asked if I wanted her to change my socks(!!!). I declined because it felt a little weird :) but then she offered me a massage(!!!). I had a tightness in my left shoulder (I often do when I have to carry a heavy pack) and it wasn't as weird as asking a stranger to change your socks, so I agreed, and she was amazing..
I left Sherman feeling well fed, taken care of and quite happy :) before reaching the climb up to Handies peak you need to run-walk a slight uphill on a very gradual dirt 4x4 road with lots of OTV traffic (to my surprise the OTV people were mostly nice and very supportive too!) to the Burrows aid station. This whole section is at about 10,000ft high and is very relaxing, so it helps a lot to process all the food you have just eaten at Sherman. For anyone running counterclockwise Hardrock in the future, my advise is - EAT ALL YOU CAN AT SHERMAN.
The climb to Handies peak starts with an easy low grade trail, it was raining at this point, but not too hard (still no thunderstorms though). I was still among other runners, but no other women since we separated with Betsy (who I guess stayed at Sherman for longer). Again once I reached 12,000ft I got super slow and was breathing hard, but no stomach issues and no nausea! After 12,000 ft the climb got much steeper, but it was so beautiful! Climbing to the most top was quite rocky too, and I was passed by a runner in some Virginia's running club shirt, and I was so jealous because I couldn't understand how you can be from Virginia and hike so well at the altitude :|
My first and fortunately only meltdown happened after the Handies peak. There was a long downhill, I was running well and I was so happy to be descending to what I thought was the first crew accessible aid station since mile 9... when the next climb started. And apparently it was a climb back up to 13,000ft to the American Grouse Pass after we have descended to maybe 12,000ft :) I am really sorry to the runner who had to witness my meltdown, when I complained that there shouldn't be another climb, I did not expect another climb, and so on. In reality I should've read course description and studied course profile ;)
So I finally reached the first crew accessible aid station since mile 9 - Grouse Gulch (at mile 42 and at 10,700ft). My crew was there, I was feeling good, and I knew that I only needed to cross the Engineer pass to get to Ouray where I will be more than half of the race done and where Slava will join me for the rest of the race. I again ate some food (though now it wasn't feeling good anymore - I usually lose taste buds after about 12 hours of the race, that's the reason why I usually run on gels alone). I found out that soups/broths felt good, but no solid food did. It just felt too dry and tasteless - again, not that the food was bad, it's just something that happens to me during utlras. Kate massaged my shoulder, and I also grabbed my lights for the night.
I left Grouse in high spirits and a long gradual 4x4 climb up to Engineer pass has started. I met two younger guys on this section (younger compared to most other runners I met at Hardrock lol), one of them was a pacer and they were a lot of fun to run with. Also they were matching me at technical downhill running skills which not something that happens often. And what a downhill it was! I immediately remembered IMTUF race director's phrase "Kilian skills or hospital bills" and that's the phrase I would use to describe this downhill. It was steep and there was no trail. Just grass. Well, actually not just grass, there were like millions of grassy bumps all the way to the Engineer aid station. I had some soup at the Engineer and chatted with the guys and volunteers. They told me that I was the 6th female, after one of the guys asked if we were somewhere in the middle of the pack and I mentioned that I am for sure top 15 female - I had to explain them the joke which is that only 15 women started Hardrock in 2021;) Also they told me that the 5ths left 11 minutes ago. Not that I was racing.. of course not ;) But I caught her on the technical downhill section that follows a thin rocky trail along a scary cliff. And it was already completely dark. Everyone I passed was walking this section, while I wasn't slowed down by the exposure and ran it (being a rock climber helps feeling comfortable with heights and a technical terrain). So I was 5ths by Ouray, and I passed many male runners too on this downhill (though most of them were already with pacers and it's hard to tell how many actual runners I passed).
In Ouray I again tried to eat, though nothing felt good, except for the soup and RED BULL (YAAS RED BULL!!! I discovered it during Grindstone in 2018, and man I love it during the races!). I changed the socks and shoes, my feet were all white and wrinkly from the moisture, but no blisters. I also changed gaiters (from sparkling pink to sparkling gold) and I had to change my shirt and armsleeves too, because I needed to replace pink armsleeves with yellow and orange shirt with gray because they look better with golden gaiters. To all the haters: it's called fashion, look it up! Also I grabbed a pair of super warm cross country skiing gloves and a pack of chemical hand warmers as it was advised by Anna Frost.
And we headed out from the lowest point of the race (7,680ft) to one of the highest points of the race Virginius Pass (13,100ft) with Slava. Basically by amount of altitude you gain it is the biggest climb of the race, though it is not as high as Handies and it's mostly on the road which is not steep. We got to Governor aid station mile 64.4 and 10,780ft where a familiar face of Aaron must have been cheering me up but he was already asleep ;) I only had soup, but Slava decided to have their famous cake, and that's when the girl I passed on the downhill to Ouray (Heather) came to the aid station. I grabbed Slava and we left. I was not racing, definitely not ;)
Last 1,000ft of the climb to the Virginius Pass is steep on loose dirt and rocks, but what waits for you on top totally is worth it - Kroger's Canteen! If you read my Western States race report from 2013 you know that Karl Meltzer was my coach back then and he is one of my ultrarunning heroes. Not because he's strong or fast or whatever (which he of course is), but because he has endless wisdom and he knows what TF he's doing. And Karl Meltzer has never skipped a tequila shot at Krogers. Not even when he won Hardrock. The tale says that he once almost skipped it, but turned back, climbed all the way back up to the aid station and only left after he had his shot. What is good for Karl Meltzer is good for me. The tequila shot felt amazing. Or was it mescal? Doesn't matter because both are the only types of hard liquor I drink. Yeah, I know I'm Russian.
Also Kroger's was the point when I was told that I was now in forth place. I said - no way, someone had to drop. "Someone dropped", they said, "Courtney did". Probably the only moment in my ultrarunning history when I wasn't happy to gain a spot :(
So then there was mostly a steep dirt 4x4 road all the way to Telluride. Nik who was at the aid station later told me that Telluride is some kind of a hip high end ski resort very different from Ouray and especially Silverton more like Vail (we were in Vail in 2019 for the bouldering world cup), but I didn't see it while running into or out of the town, it felt the same as two others. It was also an early morning and we were not anywhere close to the town center.
The next section was pretty but.. long. And hot. So hot. The rains and thunderstorms were promised for after 12pm but it was still morning. We still had a lot of shade while climbing up to Oscar's Pass (mile 79, height 13,140ft), but when we were close to the top, I realized (well, I didn't realize but I was told by two older folks who passed us on the climb, but we passed them back on another Kilian skills or hospital bills downhill) that the direct sun at 13,000ft feels bad. I felt super sleepy too. I soaked my shirt in the creek (which is all snowmelt - so it was cold!), put some snow in my hat and my bra (having Western States experience in 2013 - the second hottest in the race history to date - really really saved me not once ;)) Anyway I think this was my second low point of the race since being nauseous in the most beginning.
When we arrived to Chapman I was not a happy camper. I did not expect that the heat could be a problem during Hardrock and I wasn't ready. Fortunately it was the crew accessible aid station, unfortunately it was the last crew accessible aid station :( Fortunately they had ice! I filled my bra, cap and bladder with the ice and felt much better. I saw the older folks who we met at Oscar pass leaving ahead of us, and after some time we left too. It was the home run and it was supposed to be easy, because the last two climbs were only 12,000+. Well, what we didn't know is that the first climb was not "just 12,000+ ft" high it was 12,920ft high which is pretty darn close to 13,000ft and that the last 12,000+ft climb is actually two climbs - one to 12,230 and the second one to 12,600ft :) DO YOUR FUCKING HOMEWORK AND LEARN THE COURSE! :)
Anyway the heat that was killing me somehow was calming down and now what was killing me were biting flies :| So many of them, but not for long because once we approached the very bottom of the Grand Swamp Pass we finally heard the first thunders of the race and they were close. However I denied how close they were and said they were way behind us, probably on the Oscars Pass. By the time we were in the middle of the couloir denial wasn't possible. It was pouring rain, thunders were booming non stop, and the lightnings were hitting the left side of the couloir we had to climb over. I saw the older guys (shit I should really learn what their names are and stop calling them that :() not slowing down and climbing higher and higher up the pass. I wanted to follow them, because the probability of being hit by the lightning in the thunderstorm is quite low, and I am a big believer in statistics (that's why I am not afraid of bears, cougars, and running alone in the forest in the dark), but Slava said that we should take cover and stop. I didn't want to climb lower and lose the altitude we've already gained, so we just sat where we were (on the trail). I put all the cloths I had on including my rain pants and emergency poncho made of the same material as emergency space blankets, but I still got cold and started shivering in seconds. Not sure how long we were sitting there, but eventually a guy who we passed before caught back to us, said he was from Colorado, and that the storm will pass in 5 minutes, way before we will reach the pass, so we can sit and freeze to death if we want to, but he suggested us to move. I stood up and followed him. Slava followed us. I warmed up quite soon, and in about 5 minutes the storm passed. Just as he said. Just another person to save the day :) Though he only had 3 Hardrock finishes ;) I just followed him all the way to the top of the Grand Swamp Pass, which was probably the most exciting climb of the course. My favorite moment was Slava dropping a rock and almost killing Mike Wardian (he is a cool guy and was cool with us trying to kill him too :)).
Also after you cross the Grand Swamp you see the Island Lake which is the signature of the Hardrock - most of Hardrock pictures have Island lake on them! Also the thunderstorm and the rain that came with it woke me up and resolved the overheating problem - I felt great again and was ready to roll! We got to the second to last aid station (KT at mile 89 and at 10,630 ft) and I only asked for one thing - the bug spray! They had one! and it resolved what I thought was my last roadblock between where I was and kissing that rock! I was smelling the barn and though it started to heat up again I felt good. I soaked my shirt in an ice cold creek again and felt better. Mike Wardian with the pacer rolled passed us - such a difference between him taking a nap at the American Grouse Pass when I passed him, he probably was well rested and well acclimated after sleeping at 13,000ft ;)
We climbed to the first top of the last climb (remember I told you there were two tops of the last climb, hilarious I know ;)), and that's when something I was worried about before the race but didn't see coming at this point happened - Slava has got the altitude sickness. 4 days is not enough to acclimate for a high altitude 42 miler even if the pace is super slow because you are running with someone who has done those extra 58 high altitude miles. It was a risk we both accepted, and there's nobody's fault it happened. So I was feeling great, but Slava wasn't and we were slowly moving to the last aid station. When we started losing the altitude he started moving better, and I still had a hope that we can finish together. I didn't need anything at the last aid station, I was ready to be done. Slava needed water. After a short chat with the volunteers he told me to keep going and I started slowly running the last 6 miles hoping he will catch up.
He didn't, and when I met a nice pair of hikers I asked them if they going all the way up to the aid station because I was worried. They said they weren't. I explained the situation, and suddenly he asked me if I was Olga O_o I said that yes indeed, I was :) Another Hardrock miracle happened - he told me not to worry, he told me that their mission will be to find Slava and to get him to the finish line, even if he will have to carry him and even if he will have to drive him to the finish by himself. He told me to go ahead and to not look back, they will take care of it. I was crying... I didn't expect such kindness from the complete strangers and I am so so happy that unlike everyone else who was so good to me during this race, I found these two and I personally thanked them during the awards ceremony :)
I started running down the hill, I got to the Mineral creek crossing that looked so dirty and so fun, I smiled and laughed like I was crazy while packing my poles for the crossing (there's a rope to cross this creek and I needed to stack my poles to be able to use my hands), I crossed it and ran the last 2-ish miles to the finish like there were no 98-ish miles behind, realizing that this was the first time since 2013 when I didn't death marched to the finish line for the last 20 miles in a 100 miler. I entered the town which at 6:30pm was almost as hype as Auburn high school track at 4am ;) The Bryon Powell was there, took my pictures, twitted them to the iRunFar feed, and told me "your pacer is okay btw", which again almost made me cry :)
Epilog
My finishing time was 36 hours 35 minutes and 26 seconds, forth female and 31 overall. Little off of my sub-35 B goal ;) Well my A goal was achieved - I finished and I had more fun during this ultra than I had in a very long time.146 people total started Hardrock, only 15 of them were women. 112 people total finished Hardrock 2021, only 11 were women. I have no comments only hopes that this will change. So far big shut outs to both Betsys for doing it year after year and surviving in this old boys club, and to Sabrina, Darcy and Megan, who are just so badass and a total slaydies of Hardrock :)
I have never met such an amazing community of runners, volunteers and passers by during any other race, they call it a family and now I exactly know why. I want to thank every single person who supported me during this run, shared the miles and wisdom with me, every volunteer who was so amazing and caring like I was their own child (offering to change socks to a random stinking runner, what??...), saving my race when I felt like shit by offering me special food options, tums, and running with me for a long slow miles and entertaining me with a chat though you didn't have to. I didn't have a chance to thank you all in person, but I saw you (those who ran at least) during the awards ceremony and I was so happy for you (though of course it wasn't your first finish haha).
I want to thank Christopher Johnson - my physical therapist who helped me to finally overcome my chronic hamstring injury, and Anna Frost for giving me insider information about the course and the kick in the butt I needed to finally start training.
Of course I also want to thank my crew Alec and Kate who flew from Seattle to hang out during the night in the middle of well not nowhere, but somewhere they've never heard of ;) Slava who went the whole nine yards (literally speaking 73920 yards) to help me finish with little altitude acclimation, Dima who let us into his house in Boulder and entertained us (well, mostly me ;)) with his always psyched and overoptimistic attitude, and of course Nik who not only went through the last two weeks with me, who has been with me when it all started in 2013 when I first qualified for Hardrock and put my only ticket into the lottery and stayed there until today with the splint on his pinky ;) Thank you ALL!
Now back to that last ultra and retiring thing. I told this when I got in to Hardrock a year ago, and I am still not going to apply for the next Hardrock lottery. Honestly Hardrock is probably the only 100 mile race I would've run again, but yeah, I am still to climb V8 outside this year, so probably not ;) Well.. unless I get injured so I cannot climb of course.. ;) the good thing that it has to happen during the short Hardrock lottery application period, so.. still probably not ;)
