Trail Running · Wellington

🇳🇿Faultline 25km:
Course Analysis & Race Readiness

A 25km course tilted downhill: 1159m of loss against 790m of gain, with half the distance spent descending. Three climbs and three descents, but the falling defines it.

CourseRecon scores your own training against the descending and durability demands that define Faultline 25km — the sample analysis below shows exactly how.

25.0 km

Distance

+770 m

Vertical Gain

−1,140 m

Total Descent

Apr 25, 2027

Next Edition · 277 days out

Organizer lists +540 m of climbing. We measured +770 m from the GPS track — +230 m more than advertised.

Check YOUR readiness

Connect Strava · No card · 2 min

The Course · GPS-Measured

What 26.0 km / 16.1 mi and 770 m / 2,540 ft of vertical gain actually look like

Measured from the GPS track: 26.0 km / 16.1 mi and 770 m / 2,540 ft of vertical gain. This is the terrain you're signing up for: read it before it reads you.

Course Profile

Terrain summary

Claimed vs GPS-Measured

Claimed · Organizer

25.0km

Distance

+540m

Gain

+1.0 km+230 m

GPS-Measured

26.0km

Distance

+770m

Gain

The organizer's flyer undersells this course by +230 m of climbing and +1.0 km.

Climb & Gradient

+770 mTotal Gain

−1,140 mTotal Loss

Gradient Distribution

39%

Flat

≤3% grade

22%

Run-Climb

3–15% up

Steep Climb

>15% up

35%

Descent

downhill

Steepest Sustained Sections

Descent

KM 22.6–25.7 · −165 m

-5.4%

Climb

KM 19.7–21.9 · +103 m

+4.6%

Descent

KM 2.2–9.0 · −300 m

-4.5%

Finish & Cutoff Times

What it takes to finish

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

2h 08m

Winning time

2h 15m

Top 5

2h 29m

Top 10

3h 53m

Median finisher

5h 38m

Back of pack

Based on 2026 results.

What This Race Demands

Four things this course asks of your body

Every course weights the four pillars of mountain-ultra fitness differently. Descending carries 47% 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

Steady 25km effort at medium duration with limited sustained flat running to recover.

ClimbingVertical power

17%

Three modest climbs, longest 2.2km and biggest gaining 144m, requiring repeatable but not extreme power.

DescendingEccentric / braking

47%

Half the course is downhill, including a 6.7km descent and one losing 300m; relentless braking control required.

DurabilityLate-race resilience

36%

Sustained eccentric loading from 1159m of descent that accumulates leg damage over 25km.

The Profile in One Line

Net-downhill 25km where 1159m of loss dominates 790m of gain across three climbs and three descents.

Aerobic FoundationalClimbing 17%Descending 47%Durability 36%

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

At 25km and medium duration, aerobic fitness underpins the effort but is not the deciding factor given only 790m of climbing.

Climbing

100

Three climbs totaling 790m, the longest 2.2km and steepest gaining 144m, ask for solid climbing power rather than big-mountain endurance.

Descending

With 1159m of loss and 50% of distance downhill, including a 6.7km stretch and a 300m drop, descending is the dominant demand on technique and quad control.

Durability

The imbalance of 1159m loss over 790m gain means eccentric fatigue builds steadily; legs must hold form deep into the race.

km 2.2–9.0

The long early drop

A 6.7km descent losing 300m arrives early, tempting overly aggressive downhill pacing that shreds quads before the finish.

km 19.7–21.9

Late climb after the pounding

A 2.25km climb gaining 103m at 4.6% forces fresh power from legs already loaded by kilometers of descending.

km 22.6–25.7

Closing descent

The race finishes falling, with a 3km descent losing 165m at -5.4% demanding braking control from fully fatigued legs.

That was a sample