Haramara 37K

Race strategy

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

• Steep 37% wall. Control your pace and stay focused.
• Final 951m descent. Save your legs to go all out on it.
• Ease into the early runnable section, then run your race pace, and start the final descent from 26.6km under control, then go all out near the bottom.
• Start · 0.0km–1.5km · Race-day nerves push your heart rate up: don't follow the crowd, find your own rhythm.
• Settle in · 1.5km–20.2km · 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. Running pays off here: run wherever you can.
• Work · 20.2km–26.6km · Climb of 373m, high point 848m. Plus 1 more descent. This is where the race is built: steady, solid effort. Climb by heart rate or breathing, not pace. Hike the steepest pitches.
• Home · 26.6km–36.3km · Descent of 951m averaging 10%. No heroics: settle back into your own effort and hold it to the line. Very long descent: first half under control, then even, let go only near the end.

Course

The course climbs 1600m+. With 43m/km of climbing, this is a rolling, mostly runnable course. By gradient, 36% of the distance is uphill, 36% downhill and 28% flat. The longest climb runs 6.7km at an average 6.7% grade (450m of vertical). The longest descent runs 9.7km at an average 9.9% grade (951m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 36.7% over 0.7km. The steepest descent drops at 25.7% over 0.2km. Surface: 41% smooth, 27% road, and 6% trail. Flat-equivalent effort: 52.6 FlatKM.

Summits

The highest summit on the course is The Cross (118m), 34.4km from the start.

Poles

Poles bring little benefit here: only about 1.4km of pole-friendly terrain.

Quad damage

Quad damage risk is moderate (index 23 of 100), with 12% of the load in the first half: 0 descents deserve a plan and a couple of downhill sessions before race day.