Kackar 20K

Course

The course climbs 1400 m+. With 70 m/km of climbing, the course is exceptionally steep, with long hiking-grade sections. By gradient, 40% of the distance is uphill, 52% downhill and 9% flat. The longest climb runs 4.4 km at an average 21.6% grade (960 m of vertical). The longest descent runs 7.6 km at 11.4% (868 m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 50.9% over 0.3 km. The steepest descent drops at 26.2% over 0.3 km. Surface: 44% smooth, 26% road, and 21% trail. Flat-equivalent effort: 34.2 FlatKM.

Poles

Trekking poles are worth taking: about 3.6 km of the course favours them.

Quad damage

Quad damage risk is moderate (index 20 of 100), with 31% of the load in the first half: 1 descents deserve a plan and a couple of downhill sessions before race day.

• Control on the marked descents until km 10, target pace until km 16, free after that. Short descents not listed: target pace.
• #1 · 6.5–9.5 km · 388 m D−, -12.6% · 52% of the race ahead → control
• 12.2–19.8 km · 868 m D−, -11.4% · 0% of the race ahead → even, first half under control, let go at the end

Weather

Historically on race day, start temperatures range from 15°C to 25°C, around 13°C at the highest point; the chance of precipitation is about 41%. Heavy rain of 10.0 mm or more falls on about 11% of days around this date.

Results

561 finishers completed the 2026 edition. Men's winner: Morteza Jafarzadeh (Iran) in 2:04:38. Women's winner: Sara Alonso (Spain) in 2:10:23.