Trail Running · Arizona

🇺🇸Black Canyon 100 km:
Course Analysis & Race Readiness

A 100 km net-downhill test with 1,352 m of gain against 2,001 m of loss. With 40% descending and a third of the course flat, this is a durability race decided by legs that hold form for the full distance.

CourseRecon scores your own training against the durability and descending demands that define Black Canyon 100 km — the sample analysis below shows exactly how.

100 km

Distance

+1,320 m

Vertical Gain

−1,960 m

Total Descent

Feb 13, 2027

Next Edition · 206 days out

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The Course · GPS-Measured

What 101 km / 62.7 mi and 1,320 m / 4,320 ft of vertical gain actually look like

Measured from the GPS track: 101 km / 62.7 mi and 1,320 m / 4,320 ft of vertical gain. This is the terrain you're signing up for: read it before it reads you.

Course Profile

Segments

Daylight

Terrain summary

Claimed vs GPS-Measured

Claimed · Organizer

100km

Distance

+1,400m

Gain

+1.0 km−80 m

GPS-Measured

101km

Distance

+1,320m

Gain

Climb & Gradient

+1,320 mTotal Gain

−1,960 mTotal Loss

Gradient Distribution

61%

Flat

≤3% grade

15%

Run-Climb

3–15% up

Steep Climb

>15% up

23%

Descent

downhill

Steepest Sustained Sections

Climb

KM 63.4–66.9 · +190 m

+5.5%

Descent

KM 42.7–46.6 · −195 m

-5%

Descent

KM 50.5–52.6 · −87 m

-4.2%

Descent

KM 67.9–70.5 · −96 m

-3.7%

Finish & Cutoff Times

What it takes to finish

Reference finish times from past results — use them to set a realistic goal pace.

7h 25m

Winning time

7h 56m

Top 10

15h 00m

Median finisher

20h 00m

Back of pack

What This Race Demands

Four things this course asks of your body

Every course weights the four pillars of mountain-ultra fitness differently. Durability carries 58% of the scoring weight on this course — the terrain makes that the deciding factor.

Weighting shows where readiness is won or lost at this distance — not whether you need each pillar. An aerobic base is a given for a race this long, so it carries little deciding weight even though it's essential — the gaps open on the climbs, descents and the back half.

AerobicSustained engine

Foundational

Sustained running over 100 km with 33% flat terrain rewarding steady rhythm.

ClimbingVertical power

15%

Modest total gain of 1,352 m over five short climbs, none exceeding 190 m.

DescendingEccentric / braking

27%

Relentless downhill: 40% of the course, 2,001 m lost, including a 10 km descent.

DurabilityLate-race resilience

58%

Repeated pounding across 100 km punishes anyone whose stride breaks down late.

The Profile in One Line

Long, runnable and net-downhill: 100 km with more loss than gain and no single defining climb.

Aerobic FoundationalClimbing 15%Descending 27%Durability 58%

Here's how CourseRecon reads a course and an athlete

Sample Readiness Analysis

What a readiness result looks like for this course

This is a worked example for a representative strong mountain-ultra athlete — not your score. Connect your own training and the same analysis runs on you.

Sample

OUT OF 100

READY

For a representative strong mountain-ultra athlete

This is a sample — connect your Strava to see your own result.

Pillar Breakdown

Aerobic

With a third of the course flat and long runnable stretches, the aerobic demand is steady rather than spiky, rewarding an economical, sustainable pace across 100 km.

Climbing

100

Climbing is limited to five short efforts totaling 1,352 m, the longest 5.8 km and the biggest just 190 m at 5.5% — never enough to break the race, but enough to interrupt rhythm.

Descending

Descending dominates at 40% of the course and 2,001 m of loss, including a 10 km descent and a 300 m drop, demanding braking efficiency and quad control repeated over and over.

Durability

The heaviest demand: 100 km of accumulated eccentric load from 2,001 m of descent, testing whether stride mechanics and quads survive the back half intact.

km 42.7–46.6

Mid-Race Descent Load

A 195 m drop at -5% over nearly 4 km stacks eccentric fatigue at halfway, well before the legs have absorbed the full 2,001 m of loss to come.

km 63.4–66.9

The Biggest Climb

The course's largest climb, 190 m at 5.5% over 5.8 km, arrives on tired legs late in the race and interrupts an otherwise runnable, downhill-tilted profile.

Full distance

Cumulative Descent

With 40% of the course pointed downhill and 2,001 m of total loss including a 10 km descent, durability under repeated braking is the decisive factor over 100 km.

That was a sample