65km

Race strategy

Run hard on the first mountain, but save energy for the second.

• Steep 34% wall. Control your pace and stay focused.
• 992m descent. Go easy, save your quads.
• 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 39.8km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 56.4km.
• 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–35.0km · Climb of 866m, high point 2434m. 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.
• Fade · 35.0km–56.4km · Descent of 992m averaging 21%. 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. Hike the steepest pitches. Your heart rate drifts down on its own: don't chase your early-race numbers, go by feel.
• Home · 56.4km–63.1km · Descent of 479m averaging 7%. No heroics: settle back into your own effort and hold it to the line.

Course

The course climbs 2650m+. With 41m/km of climbing, this is a rolling, mostly runnable course. By gradient, 37% of the distance is uphill, 31% downhill and 32% flat. The longest climb runs 6.1km at an average 14.2% grade (866m of vertical). The longest descent runs 6.7km at an average 7.1% grade (479m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 36.5% over 0.9km. The steepest descent drops at 40.0% over 0.7km. Surface: 74% trail, 17% smooth, and 8% road. Flat-equivalent effort: 93.5 FlatKM.

Summits

The highest summit on the course is Šljeme (Istočni vrh) (2445m), 35.7km from the start. Other named summits along the route: Panali (1813m). The course also passes close to Ražana glava (1862m).

Poles

Poles bring little benefit here: only about 5.3km of pole-friendly terrain.

Quad damage

Quad damage risk is moderate (index 31 of 100), with 19% 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 39.8km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 56.4km.
• #1 · 35.0–39.8 km · 992 m D−, -20.5% · 23.3 km ahead → control
• 56.4–63.1 km · 479 m D−, -7.1% · 0.0 km ahead → free

Weather

On race day, start temperatures have historically ranged from 15°C to 23°C, with around 13°C at the highest point; the chance of precipitation is about 36%. Heavy rain of 10.0mm or more falls on about 2% of days around this date.