2022 Hardrock 100 Women’s Race

The 2022 Hardrock 100 start list included 27 women, the most the race has ever had. As anticipated, Courtney Dauwalter (pre-race interview) scored a decisive victory, setting a new clockwise and overall women’s course record. Diana Finkel previously held the clockwise record of 28:32 (2010) and overall record of 27:18:24 (2009). Further back in the field, the top ten of the field was much more closely packed this year than we’ve seen previously at Hardrock, including last year’s second- and third-place finishers Darcy Piceu (pre-race interview) and Meghan Hicks, late entrant off the waitlist Hannah Green, and 450k Tor des Glaciers winner Stephanie Case (pre-race interview). Here’s how the race unfolded.

Dauwalter was off to an early lead, but started conservatively enough without trying to gap the course record pace immediately. She got through the Chapman aid station at mile 18 with 4:16 on the clock. Darcy Piceu and Maggie Guterl (pre-race interview) followed in second and third, some 37 minutes back, in jovial humor, waiting for each other at the aid station. They were followed 10 minutes later by Hannah Green in fourth, with Stephanie Case another two minutes back in fifth.

Through Telluride at mile 28, Dauwalter had extended her lead on second place, Guterl, to 67 minutes, with Piceu coming in a close third and leaving the aid station alongside Guterl. Hannah Green followed in fourth, with Stephanie Case in fifth, who was already recovering from some early stomach issues.

Past mile 33 at Kroger’s Canteen, as Dauwalter barreled ahead, the chasing women had paired off and were working together — with Piceu and Guterl still in second and third and all smiles, while Hannah Green and Stephanie Case had joined forces 22 minutes back from that duo.

Dauwalter arrived at the Engineer aid station, just past the halfway point, in sixth-place overall with 12:10 on the clock, still looking strong and in control. The effort was starting to show by Sherman at mile 73, but she was still eating well and focused.

Stephanie Case, who had crept up the women’s field, arrived into Sherman as second woman. Hannah Green followed in third at mile 73 — looking tired, but calm and collected as she had done all race — with Darcy Piceu and Meghan Hicks nipping at her heels in fourth and fifth.

By this point, Duawalter was more than five hours clear of her nearest women’s competitor, and thoughts were starting to turn to Diana Finkel’s longstanding course records. After a relatively conservative beginning, Dauwalter finally took the lid off of course record pace by mile 93 at Cunningham Gulch, coming in with 24:16 on the clock. She seemed to grow in strength and resolve as the finish line approached, and eventually stormed home in a time of 26:44:38, to add Hardrock 100 to her litany of wins, course records, and other ultrarunning achievements.Case ran strong to the ending, finish her first Hardrock 100 in second place in 32:52:46. The town of Silverton came out to celebrate local resident Hannah Green’s third-place finish in a time of 34:26:39, taking nearly two full hours offer her time from 2017.For the first time in her nine starts, Darcy Picue finished lower than second, but she worked through endless to finish fourth in 35:08:06.

posted Sunday July 17th
by Bryon Powell and Sarah Brady I run far