5 LOVĆENSKIH VRHOVA

Race strategy

Hold a steady pace and save energy for every section.

• Steep 37% wall. Control your pace and stay focused.
• Start easy and control your HR up to Štirovnik.
• Hold your race pace up to 30.9km, but stay in control.
• Ease into the early runnable section, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 30.9km.
• 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–19.8km · Climb of 265m, high point 1699m. Plus 2 more climbs and 1 descent. 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 · 19.8km–30.9km · Plus 1 more climb and 1 descent. This is where the race is built: steady, solid effort. Climb by heart rate or breathing, not pace.
• Home · 30.9km–35.2km · Descent of 382m averaging 9%. No heroics: settle back into your own effort and hold it to the line.

Course

The course climbs 1900m+. With 50m/km of climbing, this is a true mountain course with sustained climbs and descents. By gradient, 36% of the distance is uphill, 46% downhill and 18% flat. The longest climb runs 3.0km at an average 10.0% grade (299m of vertical). The longest descent runs 8.2km at an average 6.5% grade (528m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 37.4% over 0.7km. The steepest descent drops at 27.1% over 0.4km. Surface: 38% trail, 36% smooth, 10% road, 6% extreme, and 5% technical. Flat-equivalent effort: 57.5 FlatKM.

Summits

The highest summit on the course is Štirovnik (1748m), 19.9km from the start. Other named summits along the route: Treštenički vrh (1489m) and Babina glava (1474m).

Poles

Poles bring little benefit here: only about 2.5km of pole-friendly terrain.

Quad damage

Quad damage risk is moderate (index 20 of 100), with 29% of the load in the first half: 0 descents deserve a plan and a couple of downhill sessions before race day.

• Ease into the early runnable section, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 30.9km.
• 19.8–28.0 km · 528 m D−, -6.5% · 7.2 km ahead → your pace
• 30.9–35.2 km · 382 m D−, -8.9% · 0.0 km ahead → free

Weather

On race day, start temperatures have historically ranged from 10°C to 18°C, with around 12°C at the highest point; the chance of precipitation is about 31%. Heavy rain of 10.0mm or more falls on about 7% of days around this date.

Results

17 finishers completed the 2026 edition. Men's winner: Brano Baltić (Montenegro) in 4:08:36. Women's winner: Varvara Shikanova (Montenegro) in 4:05:44.