Trail des Ecuyers

Race strategy

Short race: go all out.

• Hold your race pace up to Hahnenberg, but stay in control.
• Control your HR on the first mountain, and start the final descent from 3.6km under control, then go all out near the bottom.
• Start · 0.0km–2.0km · Race-day nerves push your heart rate up: don't follow the crowd, find your own rhythm.
• Work · 2.0km–3.6km · Plus 1 more climb. This is where the race is built: steady, solid effort. Climb by heart rate or breathing, not pace.
• Home · 3.6km–10.0km · Descent of 406m averaging 6%, high point 515m. Kick for the line: give it everything you've got. Very long descent: first half under control, then even, let go only near the end.

Course

The course climbs 400m+. With 38m/km of climbing, this is a rolling, mostly runnable course. By gradient, 40% of the distance is uphill, 34% downhill and 26% flat. The longest climb runs 3.6km at an average 8.6% grade (314m of vertical). The longest descent runs 6.3km at an average 6.4% grade (406m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 16.1% over 1.1km. The steepest descent drops at 16.9% over 0.6km. Surface: 51% smooth, 35% trail, and 15% road. Flat-equivalent effort: 14.1 FlatKM.

Summits

The highest summit on the course is Hahnenberg (532m), 3.8km from the start.

Poles

Poles bring little benefit here: only about 2.0km 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 3.6km under control, then go all out near the bottom.
• 3.7–10.0 km · 406 m D−, -6.4% · 0.0 km ahead → even, first half under control, let go at the end

Weather

On race day, start temperatures have historically ranged from 14°C to 24°C, with around 16°C at the highest point; the chance of precipitation is about 52%. Heavy rain of 10.0mm or more falls on about 7% of days around this date.