Luxmore Grunt is the 27.0km trail race at Kepler Challenge 2026 (Control Gates, Te Anau, New Zealand). The race starts on December 5, 2026 at 07:00 AM. It starts in Control Gates, Te Anau.
Run the climb at race pace, build your speed on the downhill, and go all out at the finish.
The course climbs 990m+. With 37m/km of climbing, this is a rolling, mostly runnable course. By gradient, 27% of the distance is uphill, 26% downhill and 46% flat. The longest climb runs 8.1km at an average 10.6% grade (853m of vertical). The longest descent runs 8.0km at an average 10.6% grade (845m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 22.2% over 0.2km. The steepest descent drops at 16.1% over 2.1km. Surface: 98% trail. Flat-equivalent effort: 36.8 FlatKM.
Poles bring little benefit here: only about 4.2km of pole-friendly terrain.
Quad damage risk is low (index 12 of 100): a few descents worth noting, none of them decisive.
On race day, start temperatures have historically ranged from 6°C to 15°C, with around 8°C at the highest point; the chance of precipitation is about 63%. Heavy rain of 10.0mm or more falls on about 23% of days around this date.
This page has a pacing and nutrition planner, a gradient matrix, an interactive elevation profile and historical weather for Luxmore Grunt.
Other distances of Kepler Challenge 2026Kepler Challenge (60.0km)
Other editions of Luxmore Grunt2027
Official websitekeplerchallenge.co.nz
