TUT35

Race strategy

Hold a steady pace and save energy for every section.

• Steep 26% wall. Control your pace and stay focused.
• 674m descent. Go easy, save your quads.
• Control your HR on the first climb, save your quads on the descents until 13.9km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 28.7km.
• 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–13.9km · Climb of 667m, 5.4km of runnable trail, high point 1038m, descent of 674m averaging 15%. 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. Hike the steepest pitches.
• Work · 13.9km–28.7km · Climb of 671m. 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 · 28.7km–35.0km · Descent of 351m averaging 6%. 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 1900m+. With 53m/km of climbing, this is a true mountain course with sustained climbs and descents. By gradient, 38% of the distance is uphill, 44% downhill and 18% flat. The longest climb runs 5.6km at an average 12.1% grade (671m of vertical). The longest descent runs 7.1km at an average 8.9% grade (634m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 27.2% over 0.2km. The steepest descent drops at 28.4% over 0.3km. Surface: 47% trail, 46% smooth, and 7% road. Flat-equivalent effort: 51.5 FlatKM.

Summits

The highest summit on the course is Ograda (1043m), 9.0km from the start.

Poles

Poles bring little benefit here: only about 7.9km of pole-friendly terrain.

Quad damage

Quad damage risk is moderate (index 26 of 100), with 47% 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 climb, save your quads on the descents until 13.9km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 28.7km.
• #1 · 9.5–13.9 km · 674 m D−, -15.2% · 21.2 km ahead → control
• 19.4–26.6 km · 634 m D−, -8.9% · 8.5 km ahead → your pace
• 28.7–35.0 km · 351 m D−, -5.5% · 0.0 km ahead → even, let go at the end

Weather

On race day, start temperatures have historically ranged from 15°C to 25°C, with around 18°C at the highest point; the chance of precipitation is about 53%. Heavy rain of 10.0mm or more falls on about 7% of days around this date.