C&O Canal 100

General Information

The C&O Canal 100 mile race will feature one ~40 mile loop and two ~30 mile loops almost entirely on the C&O Canal towpath starting at Camp Manidokan  and running along the canal between Antietam, MD and Brunswick, MD. See the course information and maps pages for more specific information. The 2023 running of the C&O Canal 100 mile race will occur on April 27th - April 28th, 2024 and the last weekend of April for all subsequent events. The race will begin at 7:00AM on April 27th, and the cutoff time will be 1:00PM on April 28th (or 30 hours). All runners finishing under the time limit will receive a belt buckle.

The C&O Canal 100 mile is ideal for anyone looking to run their first 100 mile race, anyone looking to run fast, or anyone looking to enjoy a scenic 100 mile tour of the Potomac River near the Appalachian mountains. The course runs near the borders of three states (MD/WV/VA). The combination of temperate weather (average high/low of 68F/44F), lack of elevation gain and easy terrain for night-time navigation make this an excellent course for veterans looking to run a fast time or beginners tackling the 100 mile distance for the first time. The course will be well stocked with aid and excellent volunteers. Each loop of the course will feature 5 aid stations, some of which you will encounter more than once per loop. See the aid station page for a detailed listing of the aid stations and the distances between each.

Pacers are allowed at any point after mile 59.6 (Brunswick AS II). Pacers cannot carry water/food/etc. ("muling") for their runners. No bike pacing is allowed. Crews will only be able to meet runners at the Brunswick aid station and Camp Manidokan. Please do not ask your crew to meet you at a non-official aid station. Pacers may be dropped off at any aid station but you may not park. Crews can pick up a runner at any aid station but they may not park at any aid station other than Brunswick or Camp Manidokan. Crew members who do not abide by this rule will risk disqualification of their runner from the race, no exceptions! This rule is enforced to allow access to all canal users such as walkers, bikers, other runners, etc., so we need to respect their right to use the canal.

If at any point a runner drops from the race you must notify an aid station that you are dropping and turn in your race number. Failure to do this can result in being banned from future C&O 100 events. We do this to save your emergency contacts a 3AM wake up call when you are asleep in bed. If for any other reason you need to find a captain they should be wearing orange safety vests.

Pre-Race Dinner

The evening before the race we will be having a pre-race pasta dinner at the Camp Manidokan dining hall for runners, friends, family, loved ones, etc. You can pay for this during registration. This will be a great opportunity to meet new people, socialize, and hear advice from the race director and runners who have completed the race in the past. Typical fare includes varieties of pasta, sauces, bread, toppings, drinks, salad, and desert. Vegetarian friendly! Attendance to the pre-race dinner is optional, please purchase tickets to attend for you and or your friends/family at registration.

Travel

For those of you who may not live within driving distance, there are two major airports relatively close to Camp Manidokan, the race headquarters and start/halfway/finish point. These airports would be Dulles International Airport (IAD) and Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI). BWI is a hub for Southwest and IAD is a hub for United Airlines.

Lodging

In nearby Brunswick, MD there is a Holiday Inn and Express and Suites.

For a small $3 fee, overnight camping by your car Friday into Sunday is available for anyone who may want to sleep in a little extra on race morning. During registration indicate that you would like to camp overnight and you can pay when you pick up your race number. This camping is available for both runners and crews/pacers who want to hang out at the HQ. We will have plenty of space for everyone.

Training Runs

We will have training runs with distance options of 20 to 30 miles. We will run along the C&O Canal in order to experience sections of the course. The tentative 2024 dates for the trainings runs are March 23rd and April 6th. The training runs will have snacks at the start/finish and one to two aid stations along the route.
For details on the training runs (time/location) please contact cocanal100[@]gmail.com
The C&O Canal NHP is open 24/7 for unofficial training runs.

The March 23rd training run is cancelled in 2024.