Hmong 50 Night

Race strategy

Run hard on the first mountain, but save energy for the second.

• Big early climb with 1230m gain. Hold your pace, save your legs for later.
• Final 1570m descent. Save your legs to go all out on it.
• Steep 28% wall. Control your pace and stay focused.
• Ease into the early runnable section, then run your race pace, and start the final descent from 40.1km under control, then go all out near the bottom.
• Start · 0.0km–2.1km · Race-day nerves push your heart rate up: don't follow the crowd, find your own rhythm.
• Settle in · 2.1km–33.3km · Climb of 1231m. 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.
• Fade · 33.3km–40.1km · Climb of 361m, high point 1602m. Plus 1 more descent. Your energy fades, and that's normal: hold a steady effort and stop counting the miles. Climb by heart rate or breathing, not pace. Your heart rate drifts down on its own: don't chase your early-race numbers, go by feel.
• Home · 40.1km–61.7km · Descent of 1570m averaging 7%. No heroics: settle back into your own effort and hold it to the line. Very long descent: first half under control, then even, let go only near the end. Hike the steepest pitches.

Course

The course climbs 3000m+. With 48m/km of climbing, this is a true mountain course with sustained climbs and descents. By gradient, 34% of the distance is uphill, 39% downhill and 27% flat. The longest climb runs 14.0km at an average 8.8% grade (1231m of vertical). The longest descent runs 21.5km at an average 7.3% grade (1570m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 40.4% over 0.3km. The steepest descent drops at 27.9% over 0.7km. Surface: 41% smooth, 30% road, and 28% trail. Flat-equivalent effort: 83.4 FlatKM.

Poles

Poles bring little benefit here: only about 7.4km of pole-friendly terrain.

Quad damage

Quad damage risk is moderate (index 33 of 100), with 19% of the load in the first half: 0 descents deserve a plan and a couple of downhill sessions before race day.