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⏵ Course guide · Tennessee ultra

No Business 100 Course Guide

The No Business 100 is a remote, rugged single-loop hundred through the Big South Fork near Jamestown, Tennessee, and it earns its reputation honestly: about 102 miles of technical singletrack past sandstone arches and gorges, with just over 14,500 feet of climbing and a long night in the woods. I will walk you through the loop first, then give you a pacing, night, and fueling plan that fits a slow, technical 100. There are free calculators along the way to dial in your own numbers.

⏵ At a glance

No Business 100 quick facts

Date
Friday October 23 to Saturday October 24, 2026 (mid-to-late October weekend)
Location
Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area, near Jamestown, TN, crossing into Kentucky and back
Distance
One 100 mile loop (the course is about 102 miles)
Elevation gain
Just over 14,500 ft of climbing across the single loop
Start
7:00 AM Central, Friday (one wave, one start)
Cutoff
34 hours overall, with strictly enforced cutoffs to leave each aid station
Aid stations
Around 14 manned on-course aid stations, longest gap about 7.6 mi (No Business to Duncan Hollow)
Qualifier
A Western States qualifier (the 2026 race qualifies for the 2027 lottery); not a Hardrock or UTMB qualifier

These facts come from the official race site and RunSignup. The course reverses direction each year, so confirm the current date, start time, aid stations, and cutoffs in the race-day details before you commit. Race logistics change year to year.

The course: where No Business is won and lost

It is one big loop, about 102 miles, that reverses direction every year and runs on some of the oldest trails in the southeast. You start in Tennessee, cross into Kentucky, and come back, all of it on technical singletrack through the Big South Fork with arches, rockhouses, overlooks, and gorge crossings. The climbing, just over 14,500 feet, comes in short repeated pitches rather than big mountains. This race is won by staying smooth and patient and lost by going out hard on fresh legs and good footing in the daylight.

The first half: bank patience, not time

The early miles feel great. Fresh legs, daylight, runnable trail in places, and the kind of scenery that makes you want to push. Do not. The single best decision you make all day is running the first 40 or 50 miles easier than feels right, because the technical footing keeps taxing your legs whether you notice it or not. Hike the short climbs out of the drainages, keep your effort flat, and get to the back half with quads that still work.

Aid is reasonably spaced for a remote hundred, with around 14 manned on-course stations, but the gaps still get long out there. The longest stretch runs about 7.6 miles between No Business and Duncan Hollow, so leave each aid with enough food and fluid to cover the next leg and then some. Out here, assuming the next aid is close is how people end up walking it in on empty.

The night: where this race actually happens

You will run a big chunk of this loop in the dark, and the night is the whole ballgame. Once the sun goes down the roots and rock that were easy to read in daylight turn into a constant tripping hazard, your pace drops, and the temperature falls with it. Late October nights in the Big South Fork get cold, sometimes near or below freezing before dawn, so the runners who keep moving are the ones who layered up before they got cold and carried real lighting, not a backup headlamp on its last battery.

Bring a bright primary light plus a spare and fresh batteries, and pick up a handheld at a drop bag if you struggle to see roots with a headlamp alone. The low point for most people is the small hours, somewhere in the 2 to 5 a.m. stretch when you are cold, sleepy, and the trail feels endless. Expect it, plan for it, and keep eating through it instead of letting the wheels come off.

The descents and the late miles

None of the climbs here are monsters, but the repeated technical descending is what chews up your legs over 100 miles. Quad damage is cumulative, so the way you protect the back half is by descending under control early, with quick light feet instead of slamming the brakes. If you trash your quads in the first 50 on terrain that feels easy, those last 20 miles of rock and root become a grind you survive rather than run.

The finish does not come easy. By the time you close the loop you have been on technical trail for the better part of a day and a night, and the late miles ask for grit more than speed. Practice long technical descents and time-on-feet in training so your legs and your head are both ready for the slow, dark, repetitive back half.

Pacing strategy for a slow, technical hundred

With just over 14,500 feet of gain spread across endless short climbs on technical trail, No Business is about managing effort and the clock, not chasing a flat pace. Run by feel, hike the climbs, and pace against the cutoffs from the start.

Pace the loop by grade, not by the watch

Your flat-ground pace is meaningless on this terrain. What matters is grade-adjusted effort, so hold a steady output you can sustain, power-hike the short climbs without guilt, and keep your feet light on the descents. The classic blow-up here is running the runnable early miles too hard because the footing is good and the sun is up, then falling apart once it gets dark and technical. Use a grade-adjusted pace to turn your real fitness into honest targets for the climbs and the descents, and you will not torch the first half.

Build a finish window and back it into the cutoffs

Do not guess your No Business finish off a road time or even a smoother trail hundred. The technical footing, the night miles, and the repeated climbing all add real time, so build a vert-aware finish prediction for this course and then work backward into the 34-hour cutoff and the aid-station cutoffs along the way. That tells you the latest you can afford to reach each checkpoint, which is exactly the math that keeps you ahead of the broom on a slow course like this one.

⏵ Free tools to pace this course

  • Grade-adjusted pace calculator to turn your flat fitness into honest targets for the endless short climbs and the technical descents.
  • Race-time calculator for a vert-aware finish prediction on this course, so you can plan against the 34-hour cutoff and the aid-station cutoffs.
  • Race-equivalent calculator to turn a recent race result into a No Business goal you can actually hold for 100 miles.

Fueling strategy for 24-plus hours on your feet

Most runners are out on the No Business 100 for a full day and night, anywhere from the low 20s to the low 30s of hours. Over that long, steady fueling and a gut that keeps working are just as decisive as your fitness, especially through the cold night miles.

Carbs: keep the engine fed all day and night

For a hundred this long, aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour and hold it steady rather than chasing big catch-up doses. The danger zone is the night, when cold and fatigue kill your appetite and your stomach slows down, so lean on things you can actually get down at 3 a.m.: warm broth, real food at aid, gels or chews you have rehearsed. The single most common reason people miss cutoffs late is that they stopped eating hours earlier, got hollow, and could not climb. Practice your exact race-day carb rate on long runs so eating on the move is automatic.

Sodium, fluid, and the cold

Sweat losses are lower in cold October air than in summer heat, so do not drown yourself, but keep sodium coming in, generally a few hundred milligrams per hour and more if you are a salty or heavy sweater. The bigger night risk is going hours without drinking because you do not feel thirsty, then bonking on dehydration you never noticed. Sip steadily, keep warm fluids in the mix overnight, and weigh yourself before and after a long training run to learn your real sweat rate. Build the plan around your own number instead of a generic chart.

⏵ Build your fueling plan

Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight, your goal time, and a cold all-night hundred 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 exact No Business loop, and your projected splits and night timing. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for the technical climbing and the long night, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.

Start free →Explore the demo

No Business 100 FAQ

How hard is the No Business 100?

It is a genuinely hard hundred, more about toughness than raw vert. The single loop runs about 102 miles with just over 14,500 feet of climbing, but the difficulty lives in the technical singletrack, the remoteness, and the roots and rock you cannot see well once it gets dark. The 34-hour cutoff is generous on paper, but the footing slows everyone down, so finishing is about staying steady through the night and not wrecking yourself early. Treat it as a relentless, rugged course rather than a fast one.

How much climbing is in the No Business 100?

The course has just over 14,500 feet of total elevation gain across the single loop, per the official race. That is moderate for a hundred by the numbers, but it comes in lots of short, sharp climbs out of gorges and drainages rather than a few big mountain ascents. None of the climbs are huge, but they stack up and the descents are technical, so your legs take a beating from the repetition. The terrain matters more than the raw gain here.

What are the cutoff times for the No Business 100?

There is a 34-hour overall cutoff, and the race also enforces cutoffs for leaving each aid station along the way. You have to be checked out of an aid station before its cutoff, so you cannot bank all your buffer for the finish. Because the trail is slow and technical, build your pacing plan against the intermediate cutoffs, not just the final one. Confirm the exact aid-station cutoffs in the current runner manual before race day, since they shift with the course direction.

Is the No Business 100 a Western States or Hardrock qualifier?

Yes for Western States. The race is a Western States qualifier, so a finish in the 2026 event counts toward the 2027 Western States lottery. It is not listed as a Hardrock qualifier or a UTMB Running Stones race. Qualifier lists get revisited every year, so double-check the current status on the official race site and the Western States site before you count on it.

What is the terrain and weather like at the No Business 100?

The course is technical singletrack through the Big South Fork, past towering sandstone arches and rockhouses, with overlooks, waterfalls, and gorge crossings. Expect roots, loose rock, creek crossings, and sections that get genuinely slow, especially in the dark. Late October in this part of Tennessee and Kentucky usually means cool to cold nights, sometimes near or below freezing before dawn, with mild days and a real chance of rain or wet leaves over the rock. Pack layers and good lighting and respect how cold it can get overnight.

How does crew, pacers, and drop bags work at the No Business 100?

There are several crew-access aid stations, and crew can only meet you at those, with some road sections closed to vehicles. Pacers are allowed only at crew-access stations, and in 2026 (an even year, course run in one direction) a pacer can join at Bandy Creek around mile 24.6 through the finish, with the entry point swapping when the course reverses in odd years. Drop bags go to the group camp staging area before the deadline and reach a set of stations around the loop. Read the current crew and pacer guide closely, because the access points and pacer mile change with the course direction each year.

This guide is independent and for planning only. The course details, dates, start time, cutoffs, aid stations, and pacer rules come from public sources and change year to year (the course even reverses direction annually), 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.