The Bear 100 runs 100 miles point-to-point from Logan, Utah, through the Bear River Range, finishing at Fish Haven, Idaho on the shore of Bear Lake. 22,000 feet of climb. 36-hour cutoff. Held in late September — the autumn-leaf 100. A popular Hardrock 100 qualifier and one of the most beautiful 100-milers on the calendar.
The course
The course climbs out of Logan into the Mt. Naomi Wilderness, traverses ridgelines through aspen-and-pine forests, drops into mountain valleys at the major aid stations, and finishes with a long descent to Bear Lake. The Bear River Range hits peak fall color in late September — the course is famously photogenic. Most of the climbing is concentrated in the first 70 miles; the finish is a long, runnable downhill.
By the numbers
- Distance: 100 miles point-to-point
- Vert gain: 22,000 ft
- Vert per mile: 220 ft/mi (mountain ultra)
- High point: ~9,000 ft
- Cutoff: 36 hours
- Date: Last weekend of September (Friday morning start)
How to qualify and enter
Lottery-entry. Qualifier requirement: a 50-mile or 100K finish within ~24 months. Lottery odds run roughly 1-in-2 for first-time entrants. Less competitive than Wasatch or Hardrock; reasonable to enter and get in within 2 lottery cycles.
Gear strategy
- Vest: 12L. Salomon Adv Skin 12 — autumn temps swing.
- Layers: long sleeve + light shell. Nighttime above 8,000 ft can drop to 25°F by late September.
- Shoes: Hoka Speedgoat 6 or Tecnica Magma. Course has technical sections, runnable connectors.
- Headlamp: primary + spare. ~10 hours of dark for most finishers.
The Bear experience
The Bear has the most relaxed, friendly culture of any major Hardrock-qualifier 100. Volunteers know runners by name; aid station food is famously local. Most finishers describe it as the race they recommend to first-time 100-mile runners who want a Hardrock-tier challenge without the lottery pressure.
What these sessions assume you are measuring with
Every pace, zone and power figure here needs something recording it. These three cover running, long days and the bike.
Garmin Forerunner 965 AMOLED multisport with the training-load and threshold metrics most of these sessions assume you can see day to day.
Check price on Amazon →
COROS APEX 2 Series GPS Watch Sapphire titanium and the longest battery in its class, which is the deciding feature once a day out runs past a few hours.
Check price on Amazon →
Favero Assioma Uno Power Meter Pedal Single-sided pedal power, the cheapest honest entry into training with watts rather than estimating from heart rate.
Check price on Amazon →As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.