UTA100

Race strategy

Run easy on the first mountain, then go all out on the second.

• 296m descent. Go easy, save your quads.
• Steep 39% wall. Control your pace and stay focused.
• 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 14.8km, then run your race pace.
• 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–54.6km · 11.6km of runnable trail, high point 1070m, descent of 296m averaging 9%. Plus 1 more climb. 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. Hike the steepest pitches.
• Fade · 54.6km–86.1km · Plus 1 more descent. Your energy fades, and that's normal: hold a steady effort and stop counting the miles. 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 · 86.1km–99.5km · Climb of 1100m. No heroics: settle back into your own effort and hold it to the line. Climb by heart rate or breathing, not pace.

Course

The course climbs 4500m+. With 43m/km of climbing, this is a rolling, mostly runnable course. By gradient, 34% of the distance is uphill, 35% downhill and 31% flat. The longest climb runs 13.4km at an average 8.2% grade (1100m of vertical). The longest descent runs 6.2km at an average 9.6% grade (597m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 46.3% over 0.3km. The steepest descent drops at 56.0% over 0.3km. Surface: 58% smooth, 29% trail, and 9% road. Flat-equivalent effort: 120.8 FlatKM.

Poles

Poles bring little benefit here: only about 11.8km of pole-friendly terrain.

Quad damage

Quad damage risk is moderate (index 45 of 100), with 47% 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 14.8km, then run your race pace.