Chattanooga 20K

Race strategy

Run the climb at race pace, build your speed on the downhill, and go all out at the finish.

• Start easy and control your HR up to 9.3km.
• Final 405m descent. Save your legs to go all out on it.
• Control your HR on the first mountain, and start the final descent from 9.3km under control, then go all out near the bottom.
• Start · 0.0km–2.6km · Race-day nerves push your heart rate up: don't follow the crowd, find your own rhythm.
• Settle in · 2.6km–9.3km · Plus 1 more climb. Ease in: hold back more than feels necessary. The race is still ahead. Climb by heart rate or breathing, not pace.
• Home · 9.3km–19.8km · Descent of 405m averaging 4%, high point 597m. Build to the finish: leave whatever you have left out on the course. Very long descent: first half under control, then even, let go only near the end.

Course

The course climbs 411m+. With 20m/km of climbing, the course is predominantly runnable. By gradient, 29% of the distance is uphill, 36% downhill and 35% flat. The longest climb runs 9.3km at an average 4.4% grade (404m of vertical). The longest descent runs 10.6km at an average 3.8% grade (405m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 20.1% over 0.6km. The steepest descent drops at 12.4% over 0.9km. Flat-equivalent effort: 23.9 FlatKM.

Poles

Poles bring little benefit here: only about 1.0km of pole-friendly terrain.

Quad damage

There is too little runnable descent to damage the quads: plan the race around climbing and fuelling.

• Control your HR on the first mountain, and start the final descent from 9.3km under control, then go all out near the bottom.
• 9.3–19.8 km · 405 m D−, -3.8% · 0.0 km ahead → even, first half under control, let go at the end

Weather

On race day, start temperatures have historically ranged from 18°C to 24°C, with around 22°C at the highest point; the chance of precipitation is about 48%. Heavy rain of 10.0mm or more falls on about 14% of days around this date.