Suthep 20 Day

Race strategy

Run the climb at race pace, build your speed on the downhill, and go all out at the finish.

• Final 987m descent. Save your legs to go all out on it.
• Steep 31% wall. Control your pace and stay focused.
• Ease into the early runnable section, then run your race pace, and start the final descent from 11.9km under control, then go all out near the bottom.
• Start · 0.0km–2.4km · Race-day nerves push your heart rate up: don't follow the crowd, find your own rhythm.
• Settle in · 2.4km–11.9km · Climb of 862m, high point 1185m. 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.
• Home · 11.9km–25.0km · Descent of 987m averaging 8%. Build to the finish: leave whatever you have left out on the course. Very long descent: first half under control, then even, let go only near the end. Hike the steepest pitches.

Course

The course climbs 1100m+. With 42m/km of climbing, this is a rolling, mostly runnable course. By gradient, 29% of the distance is uphill, 37% downhill and 34% flat. The longest climb runs 6.6km at an average 13.1% grade (862m of vertical). The longest descent runs 13.1km at an average 7.5% grade (987m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 34.5% over 0.2km. The steepest descent drops at 30.9% over 0.8km. Surface: 34% smooth, 33% road, and 30% trail. Flat-equivalent effort: 38.6 FlatKM.

Poles

Poles bring little benefit here: only about 2.8km of pole-friendly terrain.

Quad damage

Quad damage risk is low (index 15 of 100): a few descents worth noting, none of them decisive.

• Ease into the early runnable section, then run your race pace, and start the final descent from 11.9km under control, then go all out near the bottom.
• 11.9–25.0 km · 987 m D−, -7.5% · 0.0 km ahead → even, first half under control, let go at the end

Weather

On race day, start temperatures have historically ranged from 14°C to 21°C, with around 16°C at the highest point; the chance of precipitation is about 7%. Heavy rain of 10.0mm or more falls on about 1% of days around this date.