Marathon du Larzac

Race strategy

Hold a steady pace and save energy for every section.

• 341m descent. Go easy, save your quads.
• Final 509m descent. Save your legs to go all out on it.
• Steep 27% wall. Control your pace and stay focused.
• Ease into the early runnable section, save your quads on the descents until 10.0km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 26.4km.
• Start · 0.0km–2.2km · Race-day nerves push your heart rate up: don't follow the crowd, find your own rhythm.
• Settle in · 2.2km–16.7km · Descent of 341m averaging 7%. Plus 2 more climbs and 1 descent. 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.
• Work · 16.7km–26.4km · 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 · 26.4km–33.0km · Descent of 509m averaging 8%, high point 858m. No heroics: settle back into your own effort and hold it to the line. Hike the steepest pitches.

Course

The course climbs 1357m+. With 41m/km of climbing, this is a rolling, mostly runnable course. By gradient, 22% of the distance is uphill, 46% downhill and 32% flat. The longest climb runs 2.8km at an average 11.5% grade (318m of vertical). The longest descent runs 7.4km at an average 5.8% grade (429m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 33.9% over 0.3km. The steepest descent drops at 27.2% over 0.6km. Surface: 54% trail, 25% smooth, and 17% road.

Summits

The highest summit on the course is Pouncho d'Agast (841m), 30.3km from the start. Other named summits along the route: Mont Redon (836m).

Poles

Poles bring little benefit here: only about 4.1km of pole-friendly terrain.

Quad damage

Quad damage risk is moderate (index 24 of 100), with 40% of the load in the first half: 1 descent deserves a plan and a couple of downhill sessions before race day.