Blue Race

Race strategy

Run the downhill at race pace, but focus on the climb.

• Start easy and control your HR up to 8.3km.
• Hold your race pace up to 9.7km, but stay in control.
• Steep 31% wall. Control your pace and stay focused.
• Ease into the early runnable section, then run your race pace.
• Start · 0.0km–2.0km · Race-day nerves push your heart rate up: don't follow the crowd, find your own rhythm.
• Settle in · 2.0km–8.3km · Ease in: hold back more than feels necessary. The race is still ahead. Running pays off here: run wherever you can.
• Work · 8.3km–9.7km · Plus 1 more descent. This is where the race is built: steady, solid effort.
• Home · 9.7km–17.4km · Climb of 527m, high point 1054m. Build to the finish: leave whatever you have left out on the course. Climb by heart rate or breathing, not pace. Hike the steepest pitches.

Course

By gradient, 35% of the distance is uphill, 56% downhill and 10% flat. The longest climb runs 7.7km at an average 6.8% grade (527m of vertical). The longest descent runs 1.4km at an average 16.0% grade (222m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 30.7% over 0.9km. The steepest descent drops at 34.5% over 0.2km. Surface: 71% trail, 16% smooth, and 9% technical. Flat-equivalent effort: 22.5 FlatKM.

Summits

The highest summit on the course is Strazara (1061m), 13.9km from the start.

Poles

Poles bring little benefit here: only about 0.9km of pole-friendly terrain.

Quad damage

Quad damage risk is low (index 13 of 100): a few descents worth noting, none of them decisive.

Results

128 finishers completed the 2024 edition. Men's winner: Dušan Krstić (Serbia) in 1:27:56. Women's winner: Sanja Despotovic (Serbia) in 2:11:16.