Trail de Bourbon

Race strategy

Hold a steady pace and save energy for every section.

• 2193m descent. Go easy, save your quads.
• Steep 58% wall. Control your pace and stay focused.
• Final 707m 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 76.4km, then run your race pace, and start the final descent from 95.5km under control, then go all out near the bottom.
• 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–10.4km · Climb of 911m, high point 2080m. 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 · 10.4km–45.0km · Descent of 2193m averaging 10%, climb of 1731m. 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. This descent is hard on the legs: short steps, stay in control, poles if you have them. Hike the steepest pitches.
• Fade · 45.0km–95.5km · Descent of 1941m averaging 10%, descent of 828m averaging 10%, climb of 814m. 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. 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 · 95.5km–103km · Descent of 707m averaging 10%. No heroics: settle back into your own effort and hold it to the line. Very long descent: first half under control, then even, let go only near the end.

Course

By gradient, 35% of the distance is uphill, 50% downhill and 14% flat. The longest climb runs 10.0km at an average 17.3% grade (1731m of vertical). The longest descent runs 21.3km at an average 10.3% grade (2193m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 40.6% over 0.6km. The steepest descent drops at 57.6% over 0.4km. Surface: 65% trail, 22% road, 6% technical, and 5% extreme.

Poles

Trekking poles are strongly recommended: about 12.6km of the course is steep enough for them to pay off.

Quad damage

Quad damage risk is high (index 67 of 100), with 50% of the load in the first half: 3 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 76.4km, then run your race pace, and start the final descent from 95.5km under control, then go all out near the bottom.
• #1 · 10.4–31.7 km · 2193 m D−, -10.3% · 71.2 km ahead → control
• #2 · 45.0–63.8 km · 1941 m D−, -10.3% · 39.1 km ahead → control
• #3 · 68.4–76.4 km · 828 m D−, -10.3% · 26.5 km ahead → control
• 95.6–102.9 km · 707 m D−, -9.6% · 0.0 km ahead → even, first half under control, let go at the end