The Hardrock 100 Endurance Run lottery gods smiled on Denise Klatt a year ago, and she took full advantage of the opportunity by completing the rugged high-altitude ultramarathon on her first attempt. The lottery gods were once again good to Klatt – along with six other New Englanders – whose names were selected for the starting field of the 2025 race during the Hardrock lottery on Saturday, Dec. 7. Eight more were selected for the waitlist.

Klatt, of Brookline, Mass., had a special lottery day all around as she was selected for the Western States Endurance Run waitlist earlier in the day. Klatt is one of two New Englanders who will be toeing the Hardrock starting line for the second time, along with Jeff Davis of Amherst, Mass., who finished the 2021 Hardrock in 39:37:00. The other five will all be first-timers. Katie Schide of Gardiner, Maine (lives in France) – the 2022 UTMB champion and winner of both UTMB and Western States in 2024 – was selected and will take her first crack at Hardrock in 2025. Accomplished mountain runner and New England great Aliza Lapierre of Richmond, Vt., will also make her Hardrock debut in 2025 after a successful lottery.

A trio of New England men will also make their Hardrock debuts as former Massachusetts resident Dane LeBlanc (now living in Mexico) and former New Hampshire resident John Tidd (now living in Spain) were selected. Completing the New England contingent selected for the starting field was Tim Finocchio of Holbrook, Mass. After eight years of trying, with finishes of tough races like the Bigfoot 200, Leadville 100, Grindstone 100, the UTMB TDS, the Ultra Tour Monte Rosa 100-miler, and the Bear 100 along the way, Finocchio will finally get his chance at Hardrock.

The 31st running of the Hardrock 100 Endurance Run will take place July 11-13, starting and finishing in Silverton, Colo. The 102.5-mile course through the San Juan Mountains will challenge runners with 33,000 feet of climbing, with most of the course above 11,000 feet and the high point of Handies Peak above 14,000 feet. The race changes directions each year, and the 2025 race will be run counterclockwise, giving Klatt the opportunity to experience the route in both directions.

One of ultrarunning’s most exclusive events, Hardrock limits its field to 146 runners. Runners must qualify for the lottery by completing one of a limited pool of events deemed difficult enough to prove runners can handle the Hardrock course. A record 3,020 runners were in this year’s lottery. The lottery process has evolved in recent years. The current format was established in 2023, establishing separate men’s and women’s pools of runners who have previously finished Hardrock and pools of those who have never finished hardrock, and selecting 64 runners from the Finished pools and 82 from the Never Finished.

Thirty-two women were selected for the starting field and 114 men were selected. Additionally, waitlists were drawn from the pools of runners who previously finished or never finished Hardrock. Former New Hampshire resident Jennifer Shultis (now living in Kingston, Wash.) was the 25th woman selected on the Female Never waitlist. Josh Bailey of Medway, Mass., was the 33rd runner selected for the Male Never waitlist. Another six men with New England ties were among the 50 selected for the Male Finished waitlist. Former Maine resident Jeff Rome (now living in Missoula, Mont.) was selected second; former Massachusetts and Vermont resident John Fegyveresi (now living in Flagstaff, Ariz.) was selected eighth; Howie Breinan of Manchester, Conn., was selected 20th; former Massachusetts resident Charles Hornbaker (now living in Los Altos Hills, Calif) was selected 22nd); Mike Weigand of Middlebury, Vt., was drawn 29th; and former Massachusetts resident Bogie Dumitrescu (now living in Boulder, Colo.) was selected 42nd to the waitlist.