Quito Nutria 50K

Race strategy

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

• 467m descent. Go easy, save your quads.
• Big early climb with 1290m gain. Control your HR at altitude.
• Steep 38% wall. Control your pace and stay focused.
• Final 868m descent. Save your legs to go all out on it.
• Ease into the early runnable section, save your quads on the descents until 35.8km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 42.8km.
• Start · 0.0km–1.7km · Race-day nerves push your heart rate up: don't follow the crowd, find your own rhythm.
• Settle in · 1.7km–25.1km · Descent of 467m averaging 11%, climb of 1291m, high point 3755m. Ease in: hold back more than feels necessary. The race is still ahead. 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. At altitude your pace drops, and that's fine.
• Fade · 25.1km–42.8km · Descent of 797m averaging 7%. Plus 1 more climb. Your energy fades, and that's normal: hold a steady effort and stop counting the miles. 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. At altitude your pace drops, and that's fine. Hike the steepest pitches. Your heart rate drifts down on its own: don't chase your early-race numbers, go by feel.
• Home · 42.8km–51.6km · Descent of 868m averaging 10%. 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. At altitude your pace drops, and that's fine.

Course

By gradient, 37% of the distance is uphill, 44% downhill and 19% flat. The longest climb runs 12.1km at an average 10.7% grade (1291m of vertical). The longest descent runs 10.6km at an average 7.5% grade (797m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 38.2% over 0.5km. The steepest descent drops at 23.2% over 0.3km. Surface: 56% road, 26% smooth, and 5% trail. Flat-equivalent effort: 69.1 FlatKM.

Poles

Poles bring little benefit here: only about 6.5km of pole-friendly terrain.

Quad damage

Quad damage risk is moderate (index 38 of 100), with 37% of the load in the first half: 2 descents deserve a plan and a couple of downhill sessions before race day.

• Ease into the early runnable section, save your quads on the descents until 35.8km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 42.8km.
• #1 · 8.9–13.0 km · 467 m D−, -11.3% · 38.6 km ahead → control
• #2 · 25.1–35.7 km · 797 m D−, -7.5% · 15.9 km ahead → control
• 42.8–51.7 km · 868 m D−, -9.8% · 0.0 km ahead → even, let go at the end

Weather

On race day, start temperatures have historically ranged from 15°C to 17°C, with around 11°C at the highest point; the chance of precipitation is about 23%. Heavy rain of 10.0mm or more falls on about 1% of days around this date.

Results

316 finishers completed the 2026 edition. Men's winner: Camilo Navas (Ecuador) in 5:08:57. Women's winner: Martha Pesantez (Ecuador) in 6:26:15.