Les Chibottes

Race strategy

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

• Start easy and control your HR up to 14.4km.
• Hold your race pace up to 16.1km, but stay in control.
• The finish is runnable. Save your legs to run it all the way.
• Ease into the early runnable section, then run your race pace.
• 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–14.4km · Ease in: hold back more than feels necessary. The race is still ahead. Running pays off here: run wherever you can.
• Work · 14.4km–16.1km · Plus 1 more climb and 1 descent. This is where the race is built: steady, solid effort. Climb by heart rate or breathing, not pace.
• Home · 16.1km–27.8km · 11.7km of runnable trail, high point 895m. Build to the finish: leave whatever you have left out on the course. Running pays off here: run wherever you can.

Course

The course climbs 750m+. With 27m/km of climbing, this is a rolling, mostly runnable course. By gradient, 26% of the distance is uphill, 32% downhill and 42% flat. The longest climb runs 0.7km at an average 20.0% grade (148m of vertical). The longest descent runs 0.9km at an average 12.9% grade (112m of vertical). The steepest descent drops at 20.6% over 0.4km. Surface: 50% trail, 29% smooth, and 17% road. Flat-equivalent effort: 36.2 FlatKM.

Poles

Poles bring little benefit here: only about 0.7km of pole-friendly terrain.

Quad damage

Quad damage risk is low (index 12 of 100): a few descents worth noting, none of them decisive.

Weather

On race day, start temperatures have historically ranged from 11°C to 21°C, with around 18°C at the highest point; the chance of precipitation is about 40%. Heavy rain of 10.0mm or more falls on about 9% of days around this date.