Vermont 100 — New England's Classic Hundred

New England’s Original Hundred

Vermont 100 has been running since 1989 and occupies a unique place in American ultrarunning — it is one of the few major hundreds that shares its course with an equestrian event on the same day. Horses and human runners start at the same time, cover the same terrain, and compete under the same time standards. Both species have a 24-hour limit.

The course runs through the rolling hills and carriage roads of South Woodstock, Vermont. It is not a mountain race by Western standards — the maximum elevation is modest, and the terrain avoids technical alpine challenges. What Vermont delivers instead is sustained rolling difficulty: hills that never stop, heat and humidity that compounds every mile, and the specific suffering of racing in the humid Northeast in July.

The Course

Vermont 100 is a loop course through rural Vermont farmland, forest trails, and historic carriage roads. The 14,000 feet of gain comes not from dramatic alpine climbs but from relentless short rollers — the kind of terrain that destroys quads through accumulated small efforts rather than single dramatic ascents.

Carriage Roads: A significant portion of the course runs on hard-packed carriage roads. Firm underfoot, predictable footing, but unforgiving on feet over 100 miles. Many runners experience significant foot issues from the hard surface combined with July heat.

The Heat Factor: Mid-July in Vermont sounds temperate. It is not. Humidity regularly exceeds 80%. When the sun climbs, the combination of heat and humidity in enclosed wooded sections creates conditions that rival Arizona desert racing for difficulty despite the much lower temperatures. Heat management — electrolytes, cooling, pacing — is as critical at Vermont as at any desert race.

The Night Section: The course in darkness through Vermont farmland and forest is one of the race’s most memorable sections. Fireflies, fog in the valleys, the sound of horses being crewed at the same checkpoints — Vermont at night is an experience with no equivalent in Western racing.

Woodstock (Mile 70): The town of Woodstock serves as a major crew access point. Runners arriving here in the small hours of the morning find a community that treats the race as a civic event — locals out watching, volunteers who have been at it for hours.

The Equestrian Connection

Vermont 100 began as a companion event to the Vermont 100 Endurance Ride — the equestrian race covering the same course. The human running race was added in 1989 to give runners the same challenge horses were completing. The two events still run simultaneously.

Seeing a horse and rider pass you at mile 60, both moving efficiently while you are beginning to fall apart, is a specific Vermont 100 experience. The horses have crews, veterinary checks at every aid station, and metabolic thresholds that disqualify animals in distress. The humans have similar cutoffs enforced with similar seriousness.

What Makes It Worth Running

Vermont 100 offers something the Western mountain hundreds don’t — a full-immersion New England endurance experience. The community is tight, the race infrastructure is mature, and the equestrian co-event adds a dimension no other 100-miler in America can match.

For East Coast runners who want a serious hundred without transcontinental travel, Vermont is the answer. For runners targeting Western States or Hardrock, Vermont in July builds exactly the heat-and-humidity-management skills that translate to canyon racing.

100 miles | 14,000 ft gain | Mid-July | South Woodstock, VT | Shares course with equestrian event | Running since 1989