Grindstone 100K

Course

The course climbs 2928 m+. With 28 m/km of climbing, this is a rolling, mostly runnable course. By gradient, 33% of the distance is uphill, 31% downhill and 37% flat. The longest climb runs 4.7 km at an average 6.3% grade (300 m of vertical). The longest descent runs 5.0 km at 11.0% (550 m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 28.7% over 0.4 km. The steepest descent drops at 21.4% over 0.5 km. Surface: 55% trail, 30% smooth, 11% road, and 5% extreme. Flat-equivalent effort: 125.5 FlatKM.

Summits

The highest summit on the course is Little Bald Knob (1320 m), 74.4 km from the start. Other named summits along the route: Hankey Mountain (1051 m). The course also passes close to Sand Spring Mountain (1137 m).

Poles

Poles bring little benefit here — only about 9.2 km of pole-friendly terrain.

Quad damage

Quad damage risk is moderate (index 35 of 100), with 29% of the load in the first half: 3 descents deserve a plan and a couple of downhill sessions before race day.

• Control on the marked descents until km 52, target pace until km 84, free after that. Short descents not listed: target pace.
• #1 · 27.9–37.1 km · 676 m D−, -7.3% · 65% of the race ahead → control
• #3 · 54.5–61.7 km · 424 m D−, -5.9% · 41% of the race ahead → target pace
• #2 · 74.4–85.4 km · 1018 m D−, -9.3% · 18% of the race ahead → even, first half under control, let go at the end

Weather

Historically on race day, start temperatures range from 9°C to 18°C, around 20°C at the highest point; the chance of precipitation is about 33%. Heavy rain of 10.0 mm or more falls on about 8% of days around this date.