⏵ Course guide · Falls Lake, Durham, North Carolina
The MST 100 Endurance Race puts you on single-track along the Mountains-to-Sea Trail at Rolling View Recreation Area on Falls Lake, an out-and-back format across 100 Mile, 50 Mile, 50K, and 10 Mile distances. I will walk you through the course, the cutoffs, and what the vert actually asks of you, then give you a pacing and fueling plan with free calculators to dial in your own numbers.
These facts come from the official race site. Check the current year details before you commit. Race logistics can change year to year.
Every distance runs on the same Mountains-to-Sea Trail single-track at Rolling View Recreation Area, an out-and-back format that means you retrace your own steps and see the rest of the field coming the other way.
The course tracks along Falls Lake with bridge crossings and lake views, and the elevation profile is rolling rather than mountainous: 3,100 feet over 50 miles and 7,700 feet over 100 miles. That is real vert to respect, especially by mile 80, but it will not feel like a Western mountain course. The technical part is the single-track itself: roots, narrow tread, and constant passing in both directions.
The 10 Mile gets 1 aid station, the 50K gets 3, the 50 Mile adds 2 more on top of headquarters, and the 100 Mile has 7 stations along the out-and-back. That spacing is generous enough to plan a light-carry strategy on the shorter distances, while 100 Mile runners should still treat headquarters as their real drop-bag hub given the out-and-back layout.
For the 2026 edition, the 50K carried a 10 hour cutoff, the 50 Mile 15 hours, and the 100 Mile 34 hours, with the 10 Mile untimed. Those numbers give you real margin to manage a rough patch, which is part of what makes this course approachable for a first 50 or first 100 if your base training is solid.
With generous cutoffs and a rolling, runnable profile, the real pacing risk on this course is starting too fast on fresh legs over the first out-leg and paying for it on the return.
Because you retrace the same single-track on the way back, an even effort on the way out sets up a stronger, more controlled return leg. Going out too hard on fresh legs is the single most common way runners blow up on out-and-back courses like this one.
⏵ Free tools to plan your effort
Early March in Durham usually means cool mornings and mild afternoons, which is kind to your gut, but the frequent aid stations still let you plan a real per-hour fueling rhythm instead of guessing.
For the 50 Mile and 100 Mile, target roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour and sodium in the 300 to 700 mg per liter range, adjusted for your own sweat rate and how the day warms up. With aid every few miles on the longer distances, you can lean on a mix of your own carried nutrition and aid station food rather than carrying everything yourself.
⏵ Build your fueling plan
Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight, your goal time, and early-March conditions 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 training plan built around YOUR fitness and the single-track, rolling terrain of the MST 100. Summit Line reads your real training, builds toward the cutoffs above, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.
The 100 mile carries 7,700 feet of gain over an out-and-back single-track route on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, which is not extreme vert for a 100 miler but the single-track format means every runner and crew member shares the same trail both directions, so footing and passing take real attention, especially at night. The 34-hour cutoff is generous for the distance, which makes this a solid target for a first 100 if your training has covered real time on technical single-track.
For the 2026 edition: 10 hours for the 50K, 15 hours for the 50 Mile, and 34 hours for the 100 Mile. The 10 Mile has no time limit. Confirm these against the current year listing before you build your pacing plan, since cutoffs can shift year to year.
Yes, the course runs single-track along the Mountains-to-Sea Trail at Rolling View Recreation Area on Falls Lake, in an out-and-back format with bridge crossings and lake views. Because it is out-and-back rather than a loop, you will see other runners coming the other direction for most of the race, which some runners find genuinely motivating during the long middle miles.
For the 2026 edition: 632 feet for the 10 Mile, 1,800 feet for the 50K, 3,100 feet for the 50 Mile, and 7,700 feet for the 100 Mile. That is a rolling, runnable profile rather than a mountain course, so most of your training time is better spent on time-on-feet and single-track footwork than on hill repeats alone.
The 15-hour 50 Mile cutoff and 34-hour 100 Mile cutoff are both on the forgiving side, and the rolling Falls Lake terrain, while technical underfoot in places, does not carry the sustained climbing that makes many mountain 100s brutal for a debut. Combined with aid stations every few miles on the longer distances, this is a reasonable first-timer course for a runner who has trail experience but wants a manageable introduction to the 50 or 100 mile format.
Both start and finish are at Rolling View Recreation Area on Falls Lake, 4201 Baptist Road, Durham, North Carolina. Because the course is out-and-back, you return to the same headquarters area for aid and, on the 50 Mile and 100 Mile, potential drop bags before heading back out.
The race runs annually in early March. The most recently confirmed edition started Saturday, March 7, 2026 at 6:00 AM. The next edition is expected in early March 2027, but as of this guide the official site has not published an exact date, so check mountainstosea100.com directly before you plan around it.
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<a href="https://runsummitline.com/guides/mst-100-endurance-race">The MST 100 Endurance Race course guide</a><iframe src="https://runsummitline.com/embed/race/mst-100-endurance-race" style="width:100%;max-width:420px;height:180px;border:0;" loading="lazy" title="MST 100 Endurance Race course guide by Summit Line"></iframe>This guide is independent and for planning only. The format, date, and course 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.
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