KosciMiler

Race strategy

Hold a steady pace and save energy for every section.

• 436m descent. Go easy, save your quads.
• Final 562m descent. Save your legs to go all out on it.
• Long race. Control your HR and effort. Early mistakes cost the most.
• Ease into the early runnable section, save your quads on the descents until 78.4km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 154km.
• Start · 0.0km–1.5km · Race-day nerves push your heart rate up: don't follow the crowd, find your own rhythm.
• Settle in · 1.5km–41.7km · Climb of 715m. 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.
• Work · 41.7km–78.4km · Climb of 493m, high point 2223m, descent of 436m averaging 9%. 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. Running pays off here: run wherever you can.
• Fade · 78.4km–154km · Climb of 547m. Plus 2 more climbs and 3 descents. Your energy fades, and that's normal: hold a steady effort and stop counting the miles. Climb by heart rate or breathing, not pace. Running pays off here: run wherever you can. Your heart rate drifts down on its own: don't chase your early-race numbers, go by feel.
• Home · 154km–159km · Descent of 562m averaging 12%. No heroics: settle back into your own effort and hold it to the line. Long descent: keep it even and let go only near the end.

Course

The course climbs 4731m+. With 29m/km of climbing, this is a rolling, mostly runnable course. By gradient, 35% of the distance is uphill, 28% downhill and 36% flat. The longest climb runs 10.7km at an average 4.6% grade (493m of vertical). The longest descent runs 8.5km at an average 8.4% grade (716m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 27.8% over 0.3km. The steepest descent drops at 22.6% over 0.5km. Surface: 73% trail, 15% smooth, and 11% road. Flat-equivalent effort: 206.6 FlatKM.

Poles

Poles bring little benefit here: only about 10.1km of pole-friendly terrain.

Quad damage

Quad damage risk is moderate (index 48 of 100), with 36% of the load in the first half: 1 descent deserves a plan and a couple of downhill sessions before race day.

• Ease into the early runnable section, save your quads on the descents until 78.4km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 154km.
• #1 · 73.5–78.4 km · 436 m D−, -8.8% · 80.6 km ahead → control
• 93.0–96.8 km · 270 m D−, -7.2% · 62.3 km ahead → your pace
• 99.5–106.0 km · 344 m D−, -5.3% · 53.1 km ahead → your pace
• 118.4–126.9 km · 716 m D−, -8.4% · 32.2 km ahead → your pace
• 154.4–159.1 km · 562 m D−, -12.1% · 0.0 km ahead → even, let go at the end

Weather

On race day, start temperatures have historically ranged from 6°C to 14°C, with around 11°C at the highest point; the chance of precipitation is about 44%. Heavy rain of 10.0mm or more falls on about 10% of days around this date.