Up & Down

Race strategy

Short race: go all out.

• Hold your race pace up to Tolsta gora, but stay in control.
• All downhill to the finish: go all out!
• Control your HR on the first mountain, save your quads on the way down from it until 4.9km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 8.4km.
• Start · 0.0km–1.9km · Race-day nerves push your heart rate up: don't follow the crowd, find your own rhythm.
• Work · 1.9km–8.4km · Descent of 270m averaging 15%, climb of 298m, high point 728m. Plus 2 more climbs and 1 descent. 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.
• Home · 8.4km–13.0km · Descent of 355m averaging 8%. Kick for the line: give it everything you've got. Long descent: keep it even and let go only near the end.

Course

The course climbs 825m+. With 63m/km of climbing, this is a true mountain course with sustained climbs and descents. By gradient, 32% of the distance is uphill, 49% downhill and 19% flat. The longest climb runs 3.1km at an average 10.1% grade (309m of vertical). The longest descent runs 4.5km at an average 7.8% grade (355m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 24.0% over 0.7km. The steepest descent drops at 23.7% over 0.6km. Surface: 63% trail, 27% road, and 9% technical. Flat-equivalent effort: 20.7 FlatKM.

Summits

The highest summit on the course is Tolsta gora (734m), 8.0km from the start. Other named summits along the route: Velika špica (660m). The course also passes close to Straža (627m).

Poles

Trekking poles are worth taking: about 3.4km of the course favours them.

Quad damage

Quad damage risk is low (index 12 of 100): a few descents worth noting, none of them decisive.

• Control your HR on the first mountain, save your quads on the way down from it until 4.9km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 8.4km.
• #1 · 3.1–4.9 km · 270 m D−, -14.7% · 8.1 km ahead → control
• 8.4–13.0 km · 355 m D−, -7.8% · 0.0 km ahead → even, let go at the end

Weather

On race day, start temperatures have historically ranged from 17°C to 26°C, with around 21°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.