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Absolute Biokovo Challenge
45.4km45.427.2km27.214km145km5

Vertical Challenge

5.0km·1150m+
May 9
Makarska,
Croatia
source

Race Pace Calculator · GPX Analyzer · Trail Finder

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Full calendar: Croatia

Vertical Challenge · Race profile

Distance
5.0km
Gain
1150m+
FlatKM
13.3
Max
1329m
Min
214m

About Vertical Challenge

Vertical Challenge is the 5.0km vertical kilometre at Absolute Biokovo Challenge 2026 (Makarska, Croatia). The race starts on May 9, 2026.

Race strategy

Short race: go all out.

  • Control your HR on the first climb.
  • Start · 0.0km–0.9km · Race-day nerves push your heart rate up: don't follow the crowd, find your own rhythm.
  • Home · 0.9km–4.7km · Climb of 1115m, high point 1329m. Kick for the line: give it everything you've got. Climb by heart rate or breathing, not pace.

Course

The course climbs 1150m+. With 230m/km of climbing, the course is exceptionally steep, with long hiking-grade sections. By gradient, 100% of the distance is uphill, 0% downhill and 0% flat. The longest climb runs 4.7km at an average 23.9% grade (1115m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 36.6% over 0.3km. Surface: 55% trail and 42% technical. Flat-equivalent effort: 13.3 FlatKM.

Summits

The highest summit on the course is Štrbina (1338m), 4.4km from the start.

Poles

Trekking poles are strongly recommended: about 4.4km of the course is steep enough for them to pay off.

Quad damage

There is too little runnable descent to damage the quads: plan the race around climbing and fuelling.

Results

29 finishers completed the 2026 edition. Men's winner: Samuel Frlička (Slovakia) in 49:20. Women's winner: Nives Šarić (Croatia) in 1:06:45.

This page has the full results and splits, a pacing and nutrition planner, a gradient matrix, an interactive elevation profile and historical weather for Vertical Challenge.

Other distances of Absolute Biokovo Challenge 2026Extreme Challenge (45.4km)·Sky Challenge (27.2km)·High Challenge (14.0km)

Other editions of Vertical Challenge2025

Official websiteabsolute-biokovo-challenge.com/o-utrci