Great Wall 50K

Race strategy

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

• 259m descent. Go easy, save your quads.
• Start easy and control your HR up to 23.4km.
• Ease into the early runnable section, save your quads on the descents until 13.1km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 50.7km.
• Start · 0.0km–1.5km · Race-day nerves push your heart rate up: don't follow the crowd, find your own rhythm.
• Settle in · 1.5km–23.4km · Descent of 259m averaging 8%, climb of 434m, high point 1319m. 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. Running pays off here: run wherever you can.
• Fade · 23.4km–50.7km · Your energy fades, and that's normal: hold a steady effort and stop counting the miles. Running pays off here: run wherever you can. Your heart rate drifts down on its own: don't chase your early-race numbers, go by feel.
• Home · 50.7km–52.0km · Descent of 212m averaging 16%. No heroics: settle back into your own effort and hold it to the line.

Course

By gradient, 44% of the distance is uphill, 37% downhill and 20% flat. The longest climb runs 10.3km at an average 4.2% grade (434m of vertical). The longest descent runs 3.2km at an average 8.1% grade (259m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 17.0% over 0.4km. The steepest descent drops at 29.8% over 0.3km. Surface: 67% trail and 25% road. Flat-equivalent effort: 63.7 FlatKM.

Poles

Poles bring little benefit here: only about 1.7km of pole-friendly terrain.

Quad damage

Quad damage risk is moderate (index 23 of 100), with 33% of the load in the first half: 1 descent deserves a plan and a couple of downhill sessions before race day.

• Ease into the early runnable section, save your quads on the descents until 13.1km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 50.7km.
• #1 · 9.9–13.1 km · 259 m D−, -8.1% · 38.9 km ahead → control

Results

1,608 finishers completed the 2025 edition. Men's winner: Erqing Wu (China) in 4:20:12. Women's winner: Ting Zhang (China) in 5:11:54.