At 50, This Trail Running Champion Says He’s Slower. So How Did He Run the Fastest Hardrock Ever?
In a prerace interview before the Hardrock 100, Ludo Pommeret admitted something counterintuitive for an elite-level runner: He’s slower than he used to be.
When ultrarunning publication iRunFar asked him the “secret sauce” for competing at a high level at 50 years old, the Frenchman gave a matter-of-fact answer.
“I think there’s no secret,” he said. “I’m slower, I’m slower, but I can compensate with other knowledge, I would say, about pacing. Just about mental preparation maybe.”
What followed was a master class in strategy and physical prowess. Pommeret won the race for the third consecutive year, kissing the rock at the finish in Silverton, Colorado, in a new course-record time of 21 hours, 11 minutes, and 36 seconds. He defeated prerace favorite Tom Evans, 34, who dropped out before mile 60, and 39-year-old runner-up Jimmy Elam by more than 2.5 hours.
At a race like Hardrock—considered to be the toughest 100-miler in the U.S.—course expertise and pacing can help offset some of the decline in performance that naturally occurs with age. Pommeret won the race in 2024 and 2025, and he spent around a month running sections of the course leading up to the race, scouting out the terrain.
“It seems it is easier when you’re getting old,” Pommeret said after the race on Saturday. “You can see the end [of your career] and these moments are a lot less. So maybe like good wine, when you are older, you are better.”
He may be on to something. The top five men at Hardrock this year had an average age of 42.6, while the women averaged 35.8.
Top 5 Men at Hardrock
- Ludo Pommeret, 50 — 21:11:36
- Jimmy Elam, 39 — 23:48:56
- David Ayala, 44 — 24:28:17
- Ryan Smith, 47 — 25:45:37
- Arlen Glick, 33 — 26:41:17
Top 5 Women at Hardrock
- Courtney Dauwalter, 41 — 26:03:10
- Careth Arnold, 36 — 30:32:31
- Tara Dower, 32 — 33:02:04
- Bailey Eppard, 31 — 35:41:59
- Kaci Lickteig, 39 — 36:12:17
Compared to other prestigious 100-mile races in the last year, the top finishers at Hardrock were considerably older. At Western States, the average age of the top five women was 32 years old, and the average men’s age was 33.2 years. And at UTMB last August, the average age among the top five men was 32.6 years old, while the women’s was 33.8.
Hardrock is considered tougher than two of its main counterparts. Its course sits at an average elevation of 11,000 feet and climbs more than 33,000 feet. Western States is net downhill (unlike Hardrock) and features about 15,000 fewer feet of elevation gain, while UTMB has similar climbing to Hardrock but is at a lower elevation.
So how did Pommeret leverage his experience? He knew that Evans, who won UTMB last year, was making his Hardrock debut. So Pommeret pushed the pace early on, applying pressure to Evans. Pommeret was the first runner to the first aid station at mile 11.5. By mile 44, he had built his lead over Evans to 30 minutes.
“It was my strategy to go out fast,” Pommeret said. “I knew that if Tom didn’t get the victory, he would drop out, and that’s what happened.”
Research suggests that 100-milers reward veteran runners, too. A study from 2015 examined more than 29,000 finishes from North American 100-mile races and found that although runners generally slowed with age, greater experience at the 100-mile distance was associated with faster finish times.
While physical decline is inevitable, Pommeret has parlayed his decades of race experience into a tactical advantage. On a course like Hardrock, course strategy and problem-solving are just as crucial as raw fitness.
Theo Kahler is the senior news editor at Runner’s World. He’s a former all-conference collegiate runner at Winthrop University, and he received his master’s degree in liberal arts studies from Wake Forest University, where he was a member of one of the top distance-running teams in the NCAA. Kahler has reported on the ground at major events such as the Paris Olympics, U.S. Olympic Trials, New York City Marathon, and Boston Marathon. He’s run 14:20 in the 5K, 1:05:37 in the half marathon, and finished 40th at the 2025 New York City Marathon. He enjoys spotting tracks from the sky on airplanes. (Look for colorful ovals around football fields.)