Wasatch Front 100 — usually called Wasatch 100 — runs 100 miles point-to-point through the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, from the East Mountain Wilderness above Kaysville south to the Soldier Hollow finish near Heber City. 26,000 feet of climb, ~26,000 feet of descent. 36-hour cutoff. Held the first weekend after Labor Day in early September. Long-running race (since 1980), with a serious local culture and a Hardrock-style devotion to the course.
The course
Three big climbs structure the race: Chinscraper (early, mile 7) — a 4,000 ft technical climb that culminates in scrambling up loose rock; the Sessions Mountain ridge run (mid-race) — exposed high alpine running; and the long descent into Soldier Hollow at mile 91. Between these, runnable single-track, jeep roads, and the famous "Bountiful B" — a long, rolling section in the back half where most runners' races are decided.
By the numbers
- Distance: 100 miles
- Vert gain: 26,000 ft
- Vert per mile: 260 ft/mi (mountain ultra)
- Highest point: 10,448 ft (Bountiful B)
- Cutoff: 36 hours
- Date: Friday morning start, first post-Labor-Day weekend in September
How to qualify and enter
Wasatch is lottery-entry. Qualifier requirement: a 100-mile finish on the WS100 / Hardrock-eligible list within ~24 months. Lottery odds run roughly 1-in-3 for first-time entrants, building each year you're not selected. Some runners take 2–4 lottery attempts to get in.
Gear strategy
- Vest: 12L. Salomon Adv Skin 12 or BD Distance 12 — Wasatch can have wide temperature swings (90°F daytime to 35°F at altitude).
- Shoes: Hoka Speedgoat 6 for runnable sections; Tecnica Magma if you favor descent grip. Most runners stick with one shoe through Wasatch — the course isn't technical enough to require swapping.
- Layers: long-sleeve baselayer, light wind shell, beanie, gloves at the high points.
- Headlamp: primary + spare. Two nights potentially in play for slower finishers.
- Poles: not strictly necessary but most finishers use them on the steep climbs.
Pacing
Pacers allowed from Brighton (mile 75). Most runners pick up one pacer at Brighton; some swap at Pole Line Pass.
Pacing strategy: walk Chinscraper (mile 7); the climb is brutal and trying to "run" it costs more time than it saves. Run the high alpine ridges if you can — they're the prettiest part of the race and the runnable terrain. The Bountiful B back-half is where most races are decided — fight to keep moving here, don't sit at aid stations.
The Wasatch experience
Wasatch has a distinctly Utah vibe — heavy LDS volunteer culture, family-friendly aid stations, and a reverence for the mountains that makes the race feel like a community event. The Soldier Hollow finish is on the same fields used for the 2002 Winter Olympics; runners cross under a banner with thirty-six hours' worth of stories behind them. Most finishers describe Wasatch as the friendliest of the iconic American 100s.
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.
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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.
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Favero Assioma Uno Power Meter Pedal Single-sided pedal power, the cheapest honest entry into training with watts rather than estimating from heart rate.
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