Lavaredo 50K

Race strategy

Hold a steady pace and save energy for every section.

• 265m descent. Go easy, save your quads.
• Steep 40% wall. Control your pace and stay focused.
• Final 1587m descent. Save your legs to go all out on it.
• Control your HR on the first mountain, save your quads on the descents until 21.6km, then run your race pace, and start the final descent from 27.6km under control, then go all out near the bottom.
• Start · 0.0km–1.8km · Race-day nerves push your heart rate up: don't follow the crowd, find your own rhythm.
• Settle in · 1.8km–21.6km · Descent of 265m averaging 8%, climb of 833m, descent of 300m averaging 12%. 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 · 21.6km–27.6km · Climb of 574m. This is where the race is built: steady, solid effort. Climb by heart rate or breathing, not pace.
• Home · 27.6km–47.4km · Descent of 1587m averaging 8%, high point 2423m. No heroics: settle back into your own effort and hold it to the line. Very long descent: first half under control, then even, let go only near the end. Hike the steepest pitches.

Course

The course climbs 2200m+. With 44m/km of climbing, this is a rolling, mostly runnable course. By gradient, 46% of the distance is uphill, 42% downhill and 13% flat. The longest climb runs 8.3km at an average 10.0% grade (833m of vertical). The longest descent runs 19.7km at an average 8.0% grade (1587m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 39.9% over 0.5km. The steepest descent drops at 27.2% over 0.7km. Surface: 76% trail, 10% road, and 9% technical. Flat-equivalent effort: 67.9 FlatKM.

Poles

Poles bring little benefit here: only about 7.6km of pole-friendly terrain.

Quad damage

Quad damage risk is moderate (index 34 of 100), with 34% of the load in the first half: 2 descents deserve a plan and a couple of downhill sessions before race day.

• Control your HR on the first mountain, save your quads on the descents until 21.6km, then run your race pace, and start the final descent from 27.6km under control, then go all out near the bottom.
• #1 · 7.6–10.9 km · 265 m D−, -8.1% · 36.5 km ahead → control
• #2 · 19.2–21.6 km · 300 m D−, -12.3% · 25.7 km ahead → control
• 27.6–47.4 km · 1587 m D−, -8.0% · 0.0 km ahead → even, first half under control, let go at the end

Weather

On race day, start temperatures have historically ranged from 12°C to 23°C, with around 14°C at the highest point; the chance of precipitation is about 66%.

Results

1,517 finishers completed the 2025 edition. Men's winner: Francesco Puppi (Italy) in 4:02:31. Women's winner: Toni Mccann (South Africa) in 4:45:12.