28K World Series Women

Race strategy

Hold a steady pace and save energy for every section.

• 695m descent. Go easy, save your quads.
• Steep 40% wall. Control your pace and stay focused.
• Final 576m 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 9.0km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 22.9km.
• 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–14.2km · Climb of 884m, high point 1603m, descent of 695m averaging 27%, climb of 708m. 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 · 14.2km–22.9km · Descent of 928m averaging 14%, climb of 620m. This is where the race is built: steady, solid effort. 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.
• Home · 22.9km–28.2km · Descent of 576m averaging 11%. Build to the finish: leave whatever you have left out on the course. Long descent: keep it even and let go only near the end.

Course

The course climbs 2313m+. With 81m/km of climbing, the course is exceptionally steep, with long hiking-grade sections. By gradient, 44% of the distance is uphill, 44% downhill and 12% flat. The longest climb runs 6.5km at an average 13.7% grade (884m of vertical). The longest descent runs 6.5km at an average 14.3% grade (928m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 58.5% over 0.3km. The steepest descent drops at 43.9% over 0.4km. Surface: 98% trail. Flat-equivalent effort: 53.0 FlatKM.

Poles

Trekking poles are worth taking: about 8.2km of the course favours them.

Quad damage

Quad damage risk is moderate (index 28 of 100), with 32% 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 way down from it until 9.0km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 22.9km.
• #1 · 6.5–9.0 km · 695 m D−, -27.2% · 19.1 km ahead → control
• #2 · 14.2–20.7 km · 928 m D−, -14.3% · 7.4 km ahead → your pace
• 22.9–28.2 km · 576 m D−, -11.0% · 0.0 km ahead → even, let go at the end

Weather

On race day, start temperatures have historically ranged from 10°C to 17°C, with around 7°C at the highest point; the chance of precipitation is about 17%. Heavy rain of 10.0mm or more falls on about 5% of days around this date.

Results

109 finishers completed the 2026 edition. Women's winner: Andrea Kolbeinsdóttir (Iceland) in 3:19:56.