Trail Running · Madeira

🇵🇹Madeira Island Ultra-Trail 115 km:
Course Analysis & Race Readiness

A 115 km ultra with 6,900 m of climbing and 6,922 m of descent across 15 climbs and 13 descents. Relentless steep grades in both directions define a course where descending resilience decides outcomes.

CourseRecon scores your own training against the descending and durability demands that define Madeira Island Ultra-Trail 115 km — the sample analysis below shows exactly how.

115 km

Distance

+6,860 m

Vertical Gain

−6,880 m

Total Descent

Apr 24, 2027

Next Edition · 276 days out

Check YOUR readiness

Connect Strava · No card · 2 min

The Course · GPS-Measured

What 114 km / 70.6 mi and 6,860 m / 22,500 ft of vertical gain actually look like

Measured from the GPS track: 114 km / 70.6 mi and 6,860 m / 22,500 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

115km

Distance

+7,100m

Gain

−1.4 km−240 m

GPS-Measured

114km

Distance

+6,860m

Gain

Climb & Gradient

+6,860 mTotal Gain

−6,880 mTotal Loss

Gradient Distribution

27%

Flat

≤3% grade

22%

Run-Climb

3–15% up

14%

Steep Climb

>15% up

37%

Descent

downhill

Steepest Sustained Sections

Climb

KM 23.2–27.8 · +1,174 m

+25.3%

Descent

KM 56.0–59.8 · −770 m

-20.5%

Descent

KM 37.0–40.8 · −735 m

-19.4%

Descent

KM 17.9–23.2 · −921 m

-17.2%

Finish & Cutoff Times

What it takes to finish

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

12h 55m

Winning time

13h 20m

Top 5

15h 38m

Top 10

36h 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 50% 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 output across 115 km from 24 m to a 1,839 m high point.

ClimbingVertical power

20%

15 climbs totaling 6,900 m, including a 9.7 km, 1,174 m ascent.

DescendingEccentric / braking

50%

6,922 m of loss over 13 descents, 17.5% of the course very steep down.

DurabilityLate-race resilience

30%

Repeated steep up-and-down loading for the full ultra distance.

The Profile in One Line

115 km, near-balanced 6,900 m up and 6,922 m down, dominated by very steep pitches that punish the legs on the way down.

Aerobic FoundationalClimbing 20%Descending 50%Durability 30%

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

MOSTLY 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 1,839 m high point and 115 km to cover, the course demands steady aerobic output over many hours, though sustained runnable stretches are limited to roughly 14% flat.

Climbing

Fifteen climbs stack 6,900 m of gain, headlined by a 9.7 km, 1,174 m ascent at 25.3% grade, requiring efficient sustained uphill power.

Descending

With 6,922 m of loss across 13 descents and 17.5% of the course very steep down, plus drops of 1,107 m, 921 m, and 770 m, the legs face relentless eccentric loading.

Durability

Repeated steep climbing and descending over 115 km stresses muscular integrity, demanding the capacity to hold form as fatigue accumulates late.

KM 23–28

The 1,174 m Wall

A 9.7 km climb gaining 1,174 m at 25.3% average grade is the single biggest ascent, arriving early enough to reward restraint and punish overexertion.

KM 18–23

Steep Descent Before the Wall

A 921 m drop at 17.2% grade over 5.4 km loads the quads hard right before the biggest climb, setting up compounded fatigue.

KM 56–60

Late Very-Steep Plunge

A 770 m descent at 20.5% grade midway through tests eccentric durability, with 6,922 m of total loss meaning the pounding never relents.

That was a sample