UTFS 135K

Race strategy

Hold a steady pace and save energy for every section.

• Steep 35% wall. Control your pace and stay focused.
• 448m descent. Go easy, save your quads.
• Final 620m 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 49.3km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 126km.
• Start · 0.0km–1.9km · Race-day nerves push your heart rate up: don't follow the crowd, find your own rhythm.
• Settle in · 1.9km–14.6km · 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. Running pays off here: run wherever you can. Hike the steepest pitches.
• Work · 14.6km–64.0km · Descent of 448m averaging 13%, descent of 538m averaging 8%. Plus 3 more climbs. 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. Hike the steepest pitches.
• Fade · 64.0km–126km · Climb of 504m, high point 650m. Plus 4 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. Hike the steepest pitches. Your heart rate drifts down on its own: don't chase your early-race numbers, go by feel.
• Home · 126km–133km · Descent of 620m 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.

Course

The course climbs 5437m+. With 40m/km of climbing, this is a rolling, mostly runnable course. By gradient, 31% of the distance is uphill, 31% downhill and 39% flat. The longest climb runs 8.6km at an average 3.4% grade (294m of vertical). The longest descent runs 6.5km at an average 8.3% grade (538m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 34.6% over 0.5km. The steepest descent drops at 34.7% over 0.5km. Surface: 48% trail, 40% smooth, and 11% road. Flat-equivalent effort: 180.7 FlatKM.

Poles

Poles bring little benefit here: only about 16.8km of pole-friendly terrain.

Quad damage

Quad damage risk is high (index 55 of 100), with 47% of the load in the first half: 2 critical descents, the last of them run on already damaged legs. Downhill-specific preparation and a controlled early pace pay off here.

• Ease into the early runnable section, save your quads on the descents until 49.3km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 126km.
• #1 · 14.6–18.1 km · 448 m D−, -12.5% · 114.6 km ahead → control
• #2 · 42.8–49.3 km · 538 m D−, -8.2% · 83.4 km ahead → control
• 118.0–120.6 km · 396 m D−, -14.8% · 12.1 km ahead → your pace
• 126.2–132.7 km · 620 m D−, -9.6% · 0.0 km ahead → even, let go at the end

Weather

On race day, start temperatures have historically ranged from 11°C to 19°C, with around 12°C at the highest point; the chance of precipitation is about 57%. Heavy rain of 10.0mm or more falls on about 11% of days around this date.