Trail Running · Hautes-Pyrénées

🇫🇷Grand Raid des Pyrénées Ultra Tour 160 km:
Course Analysis & Race Readiness

163 km with 9,857 m of climbing and matching descent across 17 climbs and 15 descents. Nearly half the course points downhill, so relentless descending under fatigue decides this race.

CourseRecon scores your own training against the descending and durability demands that define Grand Raid des Pyrénées Ultra Tour 160 km — the sample analysis below shows exactly how.

163 km

Distance

+9,840 m

Vertical Gain

−9,830 m

Total Descent

Aug 19, 2026

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The Course · GPS-Measured

What 163 km / 101 mi and 9,840 m / 32,270 ft of vertical gain actually look like

Measured from the GPS track: 163 km / 101 mi and 9,840 m / 32,270 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

163km

Distance

+9,860m

Gain

−0.0 km−20 m

GPS-Measured

163km

Distance

+9,840m

Gain

Climb & Gradient

+9,840 mTotal Gain

−9,830 mTotal Loss

Gradient Distribution

21%

Flat

≤3% grade

28%

Run-Climb

3–15% up

12%

Steep Climb

>15% up

39%

Descent

downhill

Steepest Sustained Sections

Descent

KM 61.3–65.7 · −876 m

-19.8%

Descent

KM 48.3–51.2 · −567 m

-19.6%

Climb

KM 11.6–13.8 · +391 m

+17.4%

Climb

KM 32.8–38.0 · +803 m

+15.6%

Finish & Cutoff Times

What it takes to finish

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

21h 49m

Winning time

30h 57m

Top 10

49h 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. Descending carries 51% 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 low-intensity output across an ultra-length 163 km day with 9,857 m of vertical gain.

ClimbingVertical power

21%

Seventeen climbs and 9,857 m up, including a 1,248 m ascent and pitches beyond 17%.

DescendingEccentric / braking

51%

Fifteen descents, 9,857 m down, with a 1,413 m drop and sustained grades near minus 20%.

DurabilityLate-race resilience

28%

Repeated climb-descent cycles over 163 km demand structural resilience deep into the day.

The Profile in One Line

A 163 km alpine loop rising from 794 m to 2,482 m, defined by heavy, sustained descending.

Aerobic FoundationalClimbing 21%Descending 51%Durability 28%

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

QUESTIONABLE

For a representative strong mountain-ultra athlete

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

Pillar Breakdown

Aerobic

A 163 km course with 9,857 m of gain requires steady aerobic pacing over an ultra-duration effort, though the terrain rewards climbing and descending strength over pure engine.

Climbing

With 17 climbs totaling 9,857 m, a longest climb of 10.5 km and biggest gain of 1,248 m, sustained uphill power matters; nearly a quarter of the course exceeds very steep climbing grades.

Descending

Descending dominates at 44% of the course, including a 12.1 km descent, a 1,413 m drop and sections near minus 20%. Eccentric leg strength and braking control are the decisive capacity here.

Durability

Alternating 17 climbs and 15 descents across 163 km with near-10,000 m of both gain and loss punishes legs that fatigue, especially on late steep descents.

km 61–66

Steepest descent

A 4.4 km plunge dropping 876 m at nearly minus 20% arrives well into the race, testing braking control and quad integrity when fatigue is building.

km 33–38

Steepest sustained climb

An 803 m gain over 5.1 km at 15.6% is among the hardest continuous ascents, demanding measured climbing power early to preserve legs for later descents.

Late race

Descent under fatigue

With 9,857 m of total loss and descending at 51% of the demand, the biggest 1,413 m descent and repeated steep drops make late-race durability decisive.

That was a sample