Runners gathered in the White Mountains of New Hampshire last weekend to tackle perhaps the toughest 100-mile course in the country.
By Nate Weitzer
Anyone standing atop one of the high peaks of the White Mountains can look across the range with romantic notions of crossing all that beautiful terrain in a single push. Seeing that type of monumental effort through? Well, that’s a different story.
Last weekend, White Mountain Ski Company owner Andrew Drummond and Run The Whites sponsored the first organized event on the White Mountains 100, a rugged course that requires 36,000 feet of elevation gain and loss over 100 miles of New Hampshire’s Appalachian Trail from Gorham to Glencliff.
Drummond conceived the idea to make this traditional backpacking route a course when he paced Scott Jurek’s record-setting Appalachian Trail run through the section in 2015. In 2020, Kristina Folcik set the first official time (39 hours, 21 minutes) on the route, Jack Kuenzle set the fastest known time (26:09) in 2022, and only a handful of finishers had followed … until Drummond decided to bring the New England trail running community together for a collective push.
With help from staff and volunteers, Drummond supported runners with transportation and drop bags along the route. Observing White Mountain National Forest guidelines, the event was not an official race, with no entry fees or awards, and groups restricted to 10 people.
Weather pushed the start date from September 5 to September 12, and only 16 of the 100-plus who signed up toed the line at Rattle River Trailhead in Gorham, hoping to traverse the White Mountains all the way to Route 25 in Glencliff.
By the end of the weekend, the number of WM 100 finishers had essentially doubled, beginning with Joe Miller setting the second-fastest time (32:14), and concluding when Jackie and Nick Fucile reached Glencliff after a 71-hour push.
“When we signed up we knew it would be a stretch for us,” Jackie said from their home in Stark, New Hampshire. “But we kept thinking, ‘Why not us?’ Going into it we knew it wasn’t about our time, just about taking it slow and steady to the finish.”
Starting from the north, the route traverses the Carter-Moriah and Wildcat ranges to Pinkham Notch, then goes over the Presidential Range to Crawford Notch. A long winding route over the peaks of the Pemigewasset Wilderness follows to Franconia Notch before a seemingly endless traverse of the Kinsman Range to Route 112. For exhausted runners, the only thing left is a climb up one of the steepest sections of the A.T.—Beaver Brook Trail—to the summit of Mount Moosilauke, and a final descent.
Volunteers showed up at each of the road crossings with supplies and encouragement to keep the runners moving through each brutal section.
“We really wanted to emphasize being self-sufficient,” Drummond said. “We were just there for logistics, safety, and accountability, to help as many people get through as possible.”
Most of the finishers had been thwarted by the route before. Even Drummond, who recently set the White Mountains Direttissima record in under five days, failed on his attempt in 2020. But adding logistical support and camaraderie on trail seemed to help folks push through pain to reach a lofty goal.
“Suffering together felt easier than being in your own mind when moving through the lows. If you were in a dark spot, someone who was on the same journey was there to help you,” said Ben Judson, who bailed on a 2023 attempt at Galehead Hut. “The power of collective energy is a huge reason we got to the finish line.”
Judson spent much of his 44 hours on route with good friends Jake Acito, Jimmy “Rips” Riopel, and Spencer Ralston—who works for White Mountain Ski Company, forming a group dubbed “The Pod”. With the finish line over one last climb, Riopel took a spill running to greet Ralston at Kinsman Notch, suffered a significant gash on his forehead, and got patched up before clambering over Moosilauke in the dead of night.
Acito finished a few hours ahead of The Pod at 41:03 and Kaitlyn Mac Guthrie came in at 47:29. Marc Kelly, the assist at Bubba’s Backyard Ultra last October with 42 laps (147 miles) at Drummond’s family course in Conway, finished in just under 51 hours.
Each finisher had their own set of challenges to overcome. Miller got halfway through the route the previous week before stomach issues ended his bid and Guthrie had to bail on an attempt two weeks prior due to weather. Rolling into the Liberty Springs aid area at mile 70 on the Franconia Notch bike path, Guthrie managed to do a cartwheel before slumping into a camp chair. “I’ll crawl to the finish line at this point,” she said through a smile, “But I wish it was closer.”
With rain forecast the prior weekend, Cara Baskin, of Thetford, Vermont, and Miller both attempted the route September 3 and 4, and Baskin set the women’s fastest known time at 34:12. The route saw its first unsupported completions this summer with Zan Alberici (45:55) and Christopher Paquette (37:30) setting records before Austin Black lowered the mark to 34:49 in August.
The day before the event, Amber Constant, of Woodsville, New Hampshire, started an audacious attempt to do the WM 100 twice in “yo-yo” fashion, and by September 15, she had returned to Rattle River Trailhead, becoming the first to complete the WM 200 with over 71,000 of elevation gained in a 98-hour push.
“It’s a testament to an event atmosphere, how you can work together to get something seemingly impossible done,” Drummond said about the inaugural event, which will likely be available each September for the bold.
“It took years to build this community and it’s cool to see that this is what they want now. They want the next hard thing. It’s going to keep attracting people because that’s what the community is ready for.”
Nate Weitzer is an avid trail runner, backcountry skier, and mountain climber living in North Woodstock, New Hampshire, where he writes for multiple publications. Over the past 20 years he’s thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail, a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail, climbed Mt. Rainier, Adams, Baker, Hood, and skied off multiple volcanoes. Weitzer has summitted the NH 48 in all four seasons, finished the ADK 46er list while working trail maintenance in the Keene Valley area, and completed the Colorado 14ers over the course of four summers. Read his profile of ultrarunner Lexi Jackson here.
