ДОЛГА ТРКА

Race strategy

Hold a steady pace and save energy for every section.

• 494m descent. Go easy, save your quads.
• Steep 27% wall. Control your pace and stay focused.
• Final 502m descent. Save your legs to go all out on it.
• Control your HR on the first mountain, save your quads on the way down from it until 10.5km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 28.9km.
• Start · 0.0km–1.7km · Race-day nerves push your heart rate up: don't follow the crowd, find your own rhythm.
• Settle in · 1.7km–16.2km · Climb of 527m, descent of 494m averaging 12%, high point 1049m. Plus 1 more climb. Ease in: hold back more than feels necessary. The race is still ahead. Climb by heart rate or breathing, not pace. This descent is hard on the legs: short steps, stay in control, poles if you have them. Hike the steepest pitches.
• Work · 16.2km–28.9km · Plus 1 more climb and 1 descent. This is where the race is built: steady, solid effort. Climb by heart rate or breathing, not pace. Running pays off here: run wherever you can.
• Home · 28.9km–32.0km · Descent of 502m averaging 16%. No heroics: settle back into your own effort and hold it to the line. Long descent: keep it even and let go only near the end.

Course

The course climbs 1700m+. With 53m/km of climbing, this is a true mountain course with sustained climbs and descents. By gradient, 54% of the distance is uphill, 39% downhill and 8% flat. The longest climb runs 6.2km at an average 8.5% grade (527m of vertical). The longest descent runs 4.3km at an average 11.5% grade (494m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 22.4% over 0.2km. The steepest descent drops at 26.6% over 0.6km. Surface: 84% trail and 9% road. Flat-equivalent effort: 46.9 FlatKM.

Poles

Poles bring little benefit here: only about 3.2km of pole-friendly terrain.

Quad damage

Quad damage risk is moderate (index 23 of 100), with 36% of the load in the first half: 1 descent deserves a plan and a couple of downhill sessions before race day.

• Control your HR on the first mountain, save your quads on the way down from it until 10.5km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 28.9km.