Eastern States 100 2027 registration opens Thursday, October 1 at 6:00 PM “Beast Coast” Time.
Eastern States isn’t a race anyone should take lightly, so we don’t expect registration to sell out in approximately 14 seconds. But every year is different, so who knows what will happen when we open the gates.
Want a little Eastern States while you wait for registration?
Check out our 2026 Race in Review page, featuring race reports, first-person accounts, photo galleries, videos, and more from last year’s adventure: https://www.easternstates100.com/2026-race-review
Races (and the people who organize them) can fall into the habit of focusing on statistics, podium finishers, records, big moments and other things that make for good headlines. That’s part of promoting a race. We want people to pay attention to Eastern States, after all.
But we don't believe the most important stories are necessarily the ones at the front of the race.
The stories that inspire us most often come from people who are just like us. The runner who came back after an injury. The person who started the race wondering if they belonged and discovered that they did. The runner who battled through a difficult year, a personal setback, exhaustion, doubt or fear just to make it to the starting line. The person who had every reason to quit but kept moving. The volunteer who spent an entire weekend helping someone else achieve something they once thought was impossible.
Those are the stories of grit, resolve, recovery, faith and determination that we want to hear.
Because you never know who is going to read your story and see a little bit of themselves in it.
So if you have a race report, photos, video, or your own Eastern States story you'd like to share, send us a message. We'll add it to the page.
The race may be over, but the stories don't have to be.
There won’t be a lot of changes for 2027, well, at least not ones you’ll notice immediately.
A better Race Tracker: Our homegrown tracker performed pretty well last year, which was a significant improvement over the years when we essentially had an informational blackout for parts of the weekend. This year, we’re working toward more real-time runner data. We’ll also be combining 10 years of course data with current runner performance to estimate a runner’s approximate location and ETA at upcoming aid stations. We’re hoping this becomes particularly clutch for crews trying to figure out where they need to be and when.
More flexibility for solo runners: We still want unsupported runners to have the option to switch to supported while they’re on the course. Sometimes shit happens. If having a crew meet a runner at mile 40 gives them a better chance of finishing, we’d rather allow that than make them live with a decision they made months earlier.
Unfortunately, that flexibility also means more people and vehicles moving through the PA Wilds. Our permits are concerned with the overall impact of the event on public lands.
So, for 2027, we’ll issue 180 vehicle permits at $5 each. They’ll be optional and available to runners who need them.
We hope this gives us enough flexibility to accommodate supported runners while satisfying the Commonwealth’s concerns and, importantly, allows us to avoid more draconian measures like limiting the number of vehicles at crewed aid stations.
We’re trying to find the sweet spot between “everyone gets to do whatever they want” and “nobody gets to have a crew.”
More details will be coming as registration approaches.
Thursday, October 1.6:00 PM. Beast Coast Time.
We’ll see you in the Lost and Bewildered River Valley.
Comments