⏵ Course guide · West Virginia's only 100 miler
Rim to River 100 is West Virginia's only 100 mile trail race, an out-and-back through New River Gorge National Park that climbs 12,000 feet from the river up to the rim and back down, again and again, past ghost towns, historic cemeteries, and abandoned mine shafts. I will walk you through the course and its history first, then give you a pacing and fueling plan built for a technical, 32-hour mountain 100, with free calculators along the way.
These facts come from the official Rim to River Endurance race site. Check the current year details, cutoffs, and aid stations before you commit. Race logistics change year to year.
The out-and-back course starts and finishes at ACE Adventure Resort, with the first and last 14 miles on ACE property, climbing 12,000 feet across winding singletrack and rail-to-trail as it repeatedly drops from the gorge rim down to the New River and back up.
This course carries real history. Runners pass through the ruins of Wee-Win, a late-1800s coal mining community, the historic town of Thurmond (reached via an out-and-back section used only on the front half of the course), and the ghost towns of Rush Run, Red Ash, and Brooklyn along the Southside Trail. Kaymoor, once one of the largest coal mining communities in the gorge, sits along the route too, with numerous ruins visible from the trail.
After the Kaymoor Trail, the course turns onto the Kaymoor Miners Trail and climbs wooden steps up from the old mining site, officially the steepest section of the entire course. It comes around mile 35, early enough that you will still feel it on the way back through the same section later in the race.
Numerous creek crossings dot the course, including a significant crossing of Arbuckle Creek around mile 14 with no bridge, plus many wooden bridges elsewhere that the race explicitly warns can be slippery. This is also a cup-free race: you must carry your own hydration pack, water bottle, or reusable cup, including something for hot drinks and foods like broth and mashed potatoes at aid stations.
With 32 hours to cover 100 miles and 12,000 feet of climbing, the out-and-back structure means you retrace much of the same terrain twice, which is both a challenge and a planning advantage.
Because most of the course is retraced on the way back, your outbound splits are direct intelligence for what the return trip demands, especially the Kaymoor climb and the technical creek crossings. A grade-adjusted pace target for the sustained climbing sections gives you an honest number for what effort holds up on tired legs during the return.
Cutoff times at aid stations here are strict: miss one and you are out, no appeal. A vert-aware finish prediction, checked against your actual splits at Concho Rim, Bike Farm, Hawks Nest, and Cunard, gives you real margin to adjust effort while there is still time, rather than discovering you are behind at a cutoff you cannot make up.
⏵ Free tools to pace this course
A 6:00 AM start and up to 32 hours on trail mean most finishers will spend at least one full night, and possibly two, out on the New River Gorge terrain.
Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour. Because this is a cup-free race with hot food and drink offerings like broth and mashed potatoes at aid stations, plan to lean on real food during the overnight hours rather than relying solely on gels and sports drink.
Sodium in the 300 to 700-plus mg per liter range covers most runners, leaning higher given late-October humidity common in the New River Gorge even as temperatures cool at night. The 12,000 feet of climbing raises your sweat rate more than the season alone might suggest.
⏵ Build your fueling plan
Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight, your goal time, and a long New River Gorge day and night 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 12,000 ft rim-to-river climbing profile, and your projected splits. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for technical Appalachian mountain terrain, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.
It is West Virginia's only 100 mile trail race, and the numbers back up a serious day: 12,000 feet of ascent and the same in descent, over an out-and-back course that is 84% trail through winding singletrack and rail-to-trail, crossing repeatedly from the rim of New River Gorge down to the riverbanks. Add technical footing, wooden bridges the race explicitly warns runners to cross carefully, and a steep climb up wooden steps on the Kaymoor Miners Trail, the steepest section of the entire course, and this is a genuine mountain 100, not a runnable rail-trail with a big number attached.
The official course stats list 12,000 feet of ascent and 12,000 feet of descent across the full 100 miles, with elevation ranging from 823 to 2,015 feet as the course repeatedly climbs from the New River up to the rim of the gorge and back down. That is a serious vert-to-mileage ratio for a course that is mostly singletrack and rail-to-trail rather than sustained mountain climbing.
With a 32 hour cutoff, plan for a full day and at least one full night on trail, likely two nights for slower finishers. Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, and sodium in the 300 to 700-plus mg per liter range given the humid Appalachian fall air. This is a cup-free race, so you must carry a hydration pack, water bottle, or reusable cup, including something for hot drinks and foods like broth and mashed potatoes, since the race explicitly requires it. Build your numbers with the free ultra fueling calculator before race day.
Runners get 32 hours to complete the course, starting at 6:00 AM Saturday with a final cutoff of 2:00 PM Sunday. Aid station cutoffs along the way are non-negotiable: miss one and you are listed as a DNF on the spot. Given the 12,000 feet of climbing and technical terrain, treat 32 hours as real time you need, not a cushion.
This is a course with real history built in. Along the winding singletrack and rail-to-trail sections, runners pass through the ruins of Wee-Win, a late-1800s coal mining community, the historic town of Thurmond, and the ghost towns of Rush Run, Red Ash, and Brooklyn, plus the massive former mining community of Kaymoor, where the course climbs the steepest section on the entire route via wooden steps. Expect waterfalls, whitewater views, dramatic gorge overlooks, and numerous creek crossings, including one significant crossing of Arbuckle Creek without a bridge.
With 12,000 feet of climbing, technical singletrack, multiple creek crossings, and a course that runs largely through National Park Service land with strict rules about staying on trail, this is a demanding mountain 100 rather than a beginner-friendly introduction to the distance. If you are considering it as a first 100, come in with real technical trail experience and respect that the 32 hour cutoff, generous on paper, accounts for genuinely difficult terrain.
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<a href="https://runsummitline.com/guides/rim-to-river-100">The Rim to River 100 course guide</a><iframe src="https://runsummitline.com/embed/race/rim-to-river-100" style="width:100%;max-width:420px;height:180px;border:0;" loading="lazy" title="Rim to River 100 course guide by Summit Line"></iframe>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.
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