The story of how Zach Miller took ultrarunning superfan Bill Dooper for a lap around the 2025 Hardrock 100.

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In the new film, “A Lap for Bill: Zach Miller’s Hardrock 100,” we’re treated to a much different view of Zach Miller than we normally get. Instead of the incredibly intense images of Miller sprinting to finish lines that we’ve all grown accustomed to, we get a much softer version of him and an insight into his motivations for running the 2025 Hardrock 100.

[Editor’s Note: Click here to watch the film on YouTube.]

At the start of this short film, narrated entirely by Miller and created by the good folks at Freetrail, we learn that his friend Bill Dooper, whom he describes as “an older gentleman who lived in Leadville, [Colorado,]” always wanted to see him race Hardrock. Miller continues, “He was mostly just a wonderful, amazing fan of the sport,” and explains that after spending several years chasing the UTMB dream, he decided to focus on Hardrock in 2017, largely because he knew how much Dooper wanted him to run. An injury, unfortunately, kept him from the start line that year.

Zach Miller starting the 2025 Hardrock 100, eight years after his first acceptance to the race. All images are screenshots from the film “A Lap for Bill.”

For Miller, running this race was a long time coming, and by the time he got another entry in 2024, Dooper had passed away. Miller decided to honor Dooper’s memory by carrying a card with Dooper’s photo on it around his “loop in the San Juan Mountains.” Then, with only two weeks to go before the race, Miller had an emergency appendectomy. He graciously accepted his fate and vowed to return. When the 2025 race finally rolled around, the one fan who would have been the most excited to finally see Miller at the start line of Hardrock was, of course, not present.

There are several videos out there that profile this superfan of the sport, and we highly recommend checking them out. You can also read iRunFar’s remembrance of Dooper, as Dooper was also an incredible supporter of this publication.

Zach Miller running the 2025 Hardrock 100.

In “A Lap for Bill,” Miller gives it his all in a very different way. As it sometimes goes in a race like Hardrock, Miller finds himself struggling early on. Instead of the usual volley with the front of the race, we see Miller resigned to a determined and purposeful loop. Miller displays his characteristic sportsmanship and compassion, and the end couldn’t be more perfect. He is greeted at the finish by iRunFar founder, Bryon Powell, who was also a good friend of Dooper. Powell gives Miller the special Green Bay Packers hat that Dooper always wore, which Miller, an Eagles fan from Pennsylvania, immediately dons as he absorbs the enormity of his run. The ending is filled with emotion and accomplishment, which anyone who has experienced this storied finish line in Silverton, Colorado, knows all too well.

Zach Miller shows the memorial to Bill Dooper that he carried around his 2025 Hardrock 100.

While Dooper passed away in 2018, before he could see Miller run the Hardrock 100, it’s clear that Miller gave his friend the highest honor by running with his memory.

Call for Comments

• What emotions did this film create in you?
• Do you have a Bill Dooper story you could share with us?

Bill Dooper: Ultrarunning Superfan.

Maggie Guterl is a recovering ultrarunner who has sought out some of the hardest races in ultrarunning, like Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra, the Barkley Marathons, and the Hardrock 100. After almost 15 years in the sport, Maggie is finding ways to stay connected to the trail community through writing. She shares this love of the written word with her mom and journalist, Gail Guterl. While Maggie does not share the extensive vocabulary of her best adventure buddies and fellow iRunFar contributors, Eszter Horanyi and Meghan Hicks, she does keep it real.

View all posts by Maggie Guterl