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⏵ Course guide · Maine's only 100 miler

Riverlands 100 Course Guide

The Riverlands 100 is Maine's first and only 100-mile trail race, four 25-mile laps along the Androscoggin River in Turner, on a mix of ATV doubletrack and singletrack full of rocks, roots, and mud. The elevation profile looks tame. It is not. I will walk you through the course, then give you a pacing and fueling plan built for a long, grinding day and night on your feet, plus free tools to dial in your own numbers.

⏵ At a glance

Riverlands 100 quick facts

Date
Saturday to Sunday, May 2 to 3, 2026
Location
Androscoggin Riverlands State Park, Turner, Maine
Distances
100 mi solo (four 25-mile laps) and a relay (minimum 20 miles per runner)
Elevation gain
Not published by the organizers. They describe the course as much harder than the elevation profile would suggest
Start time
6:00 AM Saturday
Cutoffs
Soft cutoff 11:00 PM Saturday at 50 miles · hard cutoffs 10:15 AM Conant Rd, 12:30 PM Middle Earth, race closes 2:00 PM Sunday (32 hours total)
Entry style
UltraSignup, solo field capped with a waitlist; registration opens in late August the year prior

These facts come from the official race site and UltraSignup. Check the current date, cutoffs, and registration window in the race-day details before you commit. Race logistics change year to year, and there has been public discussion about how many more years this race will run, so confirm the race is on the calendar before you build a season around it.

The course: four laps that add up to more than they look like

The 100-mile solo race is four laps of a 25-mile out-and-back through Androscoggin Riverlands State Park, roughly half ATV doubletrack and half singletrack, hugging the river through forest the whole way. The relay covers the same course in a minimum 20-mile-per-runner format if you would rather split it up.

The terrain does the damage, not the hills

There is no marquee climb here the way there is at a mountain hundred. The organizers say it plainly: this course is much harder than the elevation profile would indicate. What that means in practice is rocks, roots, and mud that turn a runnable-looking doubletrack-and-singletrack mix into a grind by lap three, especially in the sections closest to the river where the ground holds moisture.

Respect the terrain from lap one. It is tempting to bank time early on a course that reads flat on paper, but the technical footing adds up over four laps, and legs that got sloppy early pay for it late.

The lap format: your race resets four times

Every 25 miles you come back through the start/finish area, which means four chances to reassess, restock, and change your plan. Use that. A 100 mile out-and-back with no lap structure forces you to carry everything or trust distant drop bags. Here you get your own aid station every 25 miles, which is a real logistical advantage if you use it instead of just running through.

Early May in Maine can still have residual snow or ice in shaded low spots, and blackfly season is getting started, so pack for both cool damp mornings and bugs, and expect the ground conditions to be part of the challenge on top of the mileage.

The clock: a long window, with real teeth late

The overall cutoff is 32 hours, generous by 100-mile standards, with a soft cutoff of 11:00 PM Saturday at the 50-mile mark and hard cutoffs later at Conant Rd (10:15 AM) and Middle Earth (12:30 PM) before the race closes at 2:00 PM Sunday. The generous overall window can lull you into thinking you have all the time in the world early. You do not. The back-half hard cutoffs are the ones that matter once the sun comes up on day two.

Pacing strategy for a long, technical, lap-format hundred

With no major climb to anchor your effort around, Riverlands is about even pacing across four repeatable laps and staying ahead of the terrain, not about surviving one big feature.

Pace even, lap to lap, not fast then slow

The single biggest pacing mistake on a flat-reading course like this is treating the early laps like a training run because the legs feel fine. They will not feel fine on lap three. Hold a grade-adjusted effort that accounts for the technical footing, not just the elevation change, so your lap times stay close together instead of falling off a cliff after mile 50.

Build a realistic finish window against the 32-hour clock

Do not estimate your Riverlands finish off a flat road 100 time. The technical footing across four laps adds real hours that a pure elevation-based estimate will miss. A vert-and-terrain-aware finish prediction gives you an honest window to work backward from the Conant Rd and Middle Earth hard cutoffs, so you know your actual margin instead of assuming the 32-hour window protects you.

⏵ Free tools to pace this course

Fueling strategy for the full day and night

A 100 mile effort with a 32-hour window means your fueling plan has to survive multiple appetite crashes, a full night out, and whatever early May weather shows up.

Carbs: strong early, real food ready for the second half

Start around 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour while your stomach is fresh and willing. Expect that number to come down as the hours and the night pile up, which is normal for 100s, so have savory, real-food backups staged in your lap-format drop bag for when sweet gels stop sounding good. The lap structure here is an advantage: use each 25-mile return to reset your stomach with something different than what you have been eating.

Sodium and fluid: plan for cool mornings and warm afternoons

Early May in Maine can swing from a cold, maybe frosty start to a warm afternoon, so build a sodium range rather than one number, roughly 300 to 700 milligrams per liter, and lean toward the higher end if the forecast turns warm or you know you run salty. Because you pass through the start/finish every 25 miles, you can carry less between laps than you would on a true point-to-point hundred, so use that to keep your pack light and your legs fresher.

⏵ Build your fueling plan

Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight, your goal time, and a full day-and-night effort with the free ultra fueling calculator. Browse the rest of the free running tools at the tools hub.

Train for the conditions

Riverlands asks for durability over four repeated laps more than it asks for climbing legs. These guides go deep on the parts that decide your day.

⏵ Free calculators for this race

Run your Riverlands numbers with our free, no-signup tools, then let Summit Line tie them together with your real fitness and this exact course.

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⏵ Train for it with Summit Line

Get a race-day plan built around YOUR fitness, this exact Riverlands course profile, and your projected splits. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for the durability this terrain demands, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.

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Riverlands 100 FAQ

How hard is the Riverlands 100?

Riverlands 100 is Maine's first and only 100-mile trail race, four 25-mile out-and-back laps through Androscoggin Riverlands State Park in Turner. The elevation profile does not look intimidating on paper, and that is exactly the trap. The organizers themselves describe it as much harder than the profile suggests, and that comes down to terrain, not vert: a mix of ATV doubletrack and singletrack hugging the river, with rocks, roots, and mud that wear on you over four laps and 32 hours. It rewards patience and durability more than raw climbing fitness.

How much climbing is in the Riverlands 100?

The organizers have not published a total elevation gain figure for the course, so treat any specific vert number you see elsewhere as unofficial until you confirm it on the official race site. What they do say is that the course runs harder than its elevation profile would indicate, which points to terrain and footing more than sustained climbing. Plan your effort around technical, uneven ground across four 25-mile laps rather than around a vert number.

How should I fuel for the Riverlands 100?

Treat it as a full day-and-night effort out to the 32-hour cutoff. Most runners do well on roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour early, and it is normal for that number to drop as the hours pile up, so have a backup real-food plan for the second half. Sodium in the 300 to 700 milligram per liter range covers most people, scaled up if May turns warm or humid. Because the course is four laps, you can stage your own supplies at the start/finish and rethink your plan lap to lap instead of guessing the whole race up front. Run your numbers with the free ultra fueling calculator.

What are the cutoff times for the Riverlands 100?

There is a soft cutoff of 11:00 PM Saturday at the 50-mile mark, then hard cutoffs later in the race: 10:15 AM at Conant Rd, 12:30 PM at Middle Earth, and the race closes entirely at 2:00 PM Sunday, 32 hours after the Saturday morning start. That is a generous window for a 100 miler, but the hard cutoffs in the second half are real, so do not bank all your buffer for the finish. Confirm the current cutoff chart on the official site before race week.

What is the terrain and weather like at Riverlands?

The course is roughly half ATV doubletrack and half singletrack, hugging the Androscoggin River through forest, with rocks, roots, and mud sections that get worse as more feet pass over them across the day and night. Early May in Maine means the possibility of residual snow or ice in shaded spots, plus blackfly season starting up, so bring bug protection and be ready for cool, damp mornings even if the afternoon warms up.

Is the Riverlands 100 a good first 100 miler?

It can work as a first 100 if you have real ultra experience behind you and you respect the terrain. The 32-hour window is on the generous side for the sport, which helps, but the doubletrack-and-singletrack mix with rocks, roots, and mud over four laps asks for genuine trail durability, not just fitness. Runnable sections let you bank time if your legs are trained for repeated impact, and the lap format means you see your crew and drop bags every 25 miles, which is a real advantage for a first 100. Train the terrain, not just the distance.

This guide is independent and for planning only. The course details, dates, cutoffs, and registration window come from public sources and can change year to year, so confirm the current specifics with the official race before you register or run. There has been public speculation about how many more years this race will continue; that is not confirmed here, so check the official race site for the current status before you build a season around it. The fueling and pacing advice is general and not medical advice.