UTFS 135K

Race strategy

Hold a steady pace and save energy for every section.

• Steep 35% wall. Control your pace and stay focused.
• 445m descent. Go easy, save your quads.
• Final 614m descent. Save your legs to go all out on it.
• Long race. Control your HR and effort. Early mistakes cost the most.
• Ease into the early runnable section, save your quads on the descents until 63.3km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 126km.
• Start · 0.0km–1.4km · Race-day nerves push your heart rate up: don't follow the crowd, find your own rhythm.
• Settle in · 1.4km–14.5km · 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. Running pays off here: run wherever you can. Hike the steepest pitches.
• Work · 14.5km–65.7km · Descent of 445m averaging 12%, descent of 549m averaging 9%, descent of 349m averaging 10%. Plus 3 more climbs. 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. Running pays off here: run wherever you can. Hike the steepest pitches.
• Fade · 65.7km–126km · Climb of 504m, high point 650m. Plus 2 more climbs and 4 descents. Your energy fades, and that's normal: hold a steady effort and stop counting the miles. Climb by heart rate or breathing, not pace. Running pays off here: run wherever you can. Hike the steepest pitches. Your heart rate drifts down on its own: don't chase your early-race numbers, go by feel.
• Home · 126km–132km · Descent of 614m averaging 10%. 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 5687m+. With 42m/km of climbing, this is a rolling, mostly runnable course. By gradient, 30% of the distance is uphill, 32% downhill and 38% flat. The longest climb runs 6.4km at an average 6.6% grade (424m of vertical). The longest descent runs 6.4km at an average 9.7% grade (614m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 34.7% over 0.5km. The steepest descent drops at 35.2% over 0.2km. Flat-equivalent effort: 217.6 FlatKM.

Poles

Poles bring little benefit here: only about 16.6km of pole-friendly terrain.

Quad damage

Quad damage risk is high (index 55 of 100), with 52% of the load in the first half: 3 critical descents, the last of them run on already damaged legs. Downhill-specific preparation and a controlled early pace pay off here.

• Ease into the early runnable section, save your quads on the descents until 63.3km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 126km.
• #1 · 14.5–18.1 km · 445 m D−, -12.5% · 114.4 km ahead → control
• #2 · 42.9–49.1 km · 549 m D−, -8.8% · 83.4 km ahead → control
• #3 · 59.8–63.3 km · 349 m D−, -10.0% · 69.1 km ahead → control
• 65.7–67.7 km · 281 m D−, -14.2% · 64.8 km ahead → your pace
• 126.1–132.4 km · 614 m D−, -9.7% · 0.0 km ahead → even, let go at the end
• Plus 3 more notable descents not listed: your pace.

Weather

On race day, start temperatures have historically ranged from 11°C to 19°C, with around 15°C at the highest point; the chance of precipitation is about 55%. Heavy rain of 10.0mm or more falls on about 12% of days around this date.

Results

33 finishers completed the 2026 edition. Men's winner: Ariel Dufresne (Canada) in 21:34:01. Women's winner: Macy Turcotte (Canada) in 30:24:21.