⏵ Course guide · Mt. Hood 100 miler
Hood Hundred sends its field on a crew-accessible lollipop-loop course across 100 miles of Mt. Hood's most diverse and scenic terrain, 17,300 feet of ascent and the same in descent, under a 34 hour cutoff. I will walk you through the course and format first, then give you a pacing and fueling plan built for sustained mountain climbing. There are free calculators along the way to dial in your own numbers.
These facts come from the official Daybreak Racing event page. Check the current year details, cutoffs, and aid stations before you commit. Race logistics change year to year.
Hood Hundred runs a single lollipop-loop route staged at Mt. Hood Meadows, stacking 17,300 feet of ascent and 17,300 feet of descent across 100 miles of the mountain's most diverse and scenic terrain.
There is no single defining climb here, just sustained elevation change across the full lollipop route. Expect the kind of terrain variety that comes with circling a volcano: forest, ridgeline, and everything Mt. Hood's east side trails have to offer.
The course is built to be crew and volunteer friendly, with full aid stations, professional medical support, radio communications, shuttles for drop bags, and shuttles for DNFs. If you have a crew, this is a course where they can actually see you multiple times, not just at the start and finish.
Every 2026 starter had to complete 8 hours of race volunteering, race directing, or trail maintenance on an ultramarathon course, or make a minimum $100 donation to a stewardship-focused nonprofit. This is not decorative: it is baked into the registration process, borrowed in part from Hardrock 100's own service requirement.
A 34 hour cutoff against 17,300 feet of climbing means most finishers will spend at least one full night on the mountain. Build your plan around sustained climbing, not a flat-course 100 mile pace.
With that much cumulative elevation change, a flat per-mile pace target is close to meaningless. A grade-adjusted pace target gives you an honest number for the climbs and descents that actually make up this course, and helps you avoid the classic mistake of banking time on easier terrain only to blow up on the steep sections.
This is a course where a generic 100 mile time means almost nothing given the vert. A vert-aware finish prediction built off your own early splits is far more honest, and checking it against the 34 hour cutoff early in the race gives you time to adjust effort while adjusting is still possible.
⏵ Free tools to pace this course
A 5:00 AM Saturday start and a 34 hour cutoff mean most finishers are on the mountain well after dark. Plan fueling for a genuinely long effort, not just a big daytime push.
Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, and sodium in the 300 to 700 mg per liter range, using the full-service aid stations along the course to reset your intake regularly rather than trying to carry a full day of nutrition at once.
Given the cutoff and the vert, budget calories, caffeine, and layers for a real overnight stretch on the mountain, not just a headlamp for the last hour. Mt. Hood's summer weather is usually favorable, but conditions can change quickly at elevation after dark.
⏵ Build your fueling plan
Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight, your goal time, and a full night on Mt. Hood with the free ultra fueling calculator. Browse the rest of the free running tools at the tools hub.
⏵ Train for it with Summit Line
Get a race-day plan built around YOUR fitness, this Mt. Hood climbing profile, and your projected splits. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for 17,300 feet of sustained vert, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.
Hood Hundred stacks up 17,300 feet of ascent and the same in descent across a 100 mile lollipop-loop course on Mt. Hood, one of Oregon's most diverse and scenic mountain trail systems. The 34 hour cutoff gives a well-prepared runner real room, but the elevation profile alone puts this well above an entry-level 100 miler. It is also a 2027 Western States Qualifier, which tells you the field skews toward experienced ultra runners.
The official course specs list 17,300 feet of cumulative ascent and 17,300 feet of descent over the full 100 miles. That climbing is spread across a crew-accessible lollipop-loop route on much of Mt. Hood's most diverse terrain, so expect sustained mountain climbing rather than one single defining ascent.
With a 34 hour cutoff and 17,300 feet of climbing, plan for a long day and very likely a full night on trail. Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, and sodium in the 300 to 700 mg per liter range, adjusted for whatever midsummer mountain weather shows up on race day. The course is well supported with full aid stations, professional medical support, and shuttles for drop bags, so use that support deliberately rather than trying to carry everything yourself. Build your numbers with the free ultra fueling calculator before race day.
The overall time limit is 34 hours, starting 5:00 AM Saturday and closing 3:00 PM Sunday. Given the 17,300 feet of cumulative climbing, build real margin into your pacing plan rather than banking on a flat-course 100 mile pace.
The 2026 edition, capped at 250 runners, sold out (the 2025 race sold out in just six weeks). If you missed this edition, Daybreak Racing has published future dates through 2030: July 24-25, 2027, July 22-23, 2028, July 28-29, 2029, and July 27-28, 2030. Check the official Daybreak Racing site for when registration opens for the next available year.
No. With 17,300 feet of climbing, a mandatory service requirement for all starters, and status as a 2027 Western States Qualifier, Hood Hundred is built for runners who already have significant mountain ultra experience. If this would be your first 100 miler, look for a course with a lower elevation profile and build toward something like Hood Hundred once you have a mountainous 50 mile or 100K finish behind you.
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<a href="https://runsummitline.com/guides/hood-hundred">The Hood Hundred course guide</a>This guide is independent and for planning only. The course details, dates, cutoffs, and aid stations come from public sources and can change year to year, so confirm the current specifics with the official race before you register or run. The fueling and pacing advice is general and not medical advice.