MIUT Marathon

Race strategy

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

• Big early climb with 1030m gain. Hold your pace, save your legs for later.
• 1342m descent. Go easy, save your quads.
• Steep 44% wall. Control your pace and stay focused.
• Control your HR on the first mountain, save your quads on the way down from it until 26.8km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 37.6km.
• Start · 0.0km–1.6km · Race-day nerves push your heart rate up: don't follow the crowd, find your own rhythm.
• Settle in · 1.6km–8.6km · Climb of 1033m. Ease in: hold back more than feels necessary. The race is still ahead. Climb by heart rate or breathing, not pace.
• Work · 8.6km–37.6km · Descent of 1342m averaging 7%, high point 1487m. Plus 1 more climb. 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.
• Home · 37.6km–39.6km · Descent of 279m averaging 14%. No heroics: settle back into your own effort and hold it to the line.

Course

The course climbs 1450m+ and descends 2000m−. With 36m/km of climbing, this is a rolling, mostly runnable course. By gradient, 33% of the distance is uphill, 46% downhill and 21% flat. The longest climb runs 8.6km at an average 12.0% grade (1033m of vertical). The longest descent runs 18.2km at an average 7.4% grade (1342m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 44.8% over 0.2km. The steepest descent drops at 48.5% over 0.2km. Surface: 77% trail, 11% road, and 6% smooth. Flat-equivalent effort: 53.6 FlatKM.

Summits

The highest summit on the course is Alto (1129m), 3.0km from the start. Other named summits along the route: Facho (295m). The course also passes close to Suna (1028m).

Poles

Poles bring little benefit here: only about 5.6km of pole-friendly terrain.

Quad damage

Quad damage risk is moderate (index 31 of 100), with 45% of the load in the first half: 1 descent deserves a plan and a couple of downhill sessions before race day.

• Control your HR on the first mountain, save your quads on the way down from it until 26.8km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 37.6km.
• #1 · 8.6–26.8 km · 1342 m D−, -7.4% · 12.9 km ahead → control
• 37.6–39.6 km · 279 m D−, -14.0% · 0.0 km ahead → free

Weather

On race day, start temperatures have historically ranged from 14°C to 16°C, with around 9°C at the highest point; the chance of precipitation is about 12%.