Trail Running · Wellington

🇳🇿WUU Half 21 km:
Course Analysis & Race Readiness

A 21 km course packing 1017 m of gain and 965 m of loss across five climbs and four descents. Constant elevation change, with descent covering 34% of terrain, rewards runners who can climb hard and drop fast.

CourseRecon scores your own training against the descending and durability demands that define WUU Half 21 km — the sample analysis below shows exactly how.

21.0 km

Distance

+1,020 m

Vertical Gain

−960 m

Total Descent

17 Jul 2027

Next Edition · 327 days out

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The Course · GPS-Measured

What 22.6 km / 14.0 mi and 1,020 m / 3,340 ft of vertical gain actually look like

Measured from the GPS track: 22.6 km / 14.0 mi and 1,020 m / 3,340 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

21.0km

Distance

+1,100m

Gain

+1.6 km−80 m

GPS-Measured

22.6km

Distance

+1,020m

Gain

Climb & Gradient

+1,020 mTotal Gain

−960 mTotal Loss

Gradient Distribution

29%

Flat

≤3% grade

27%

Run-Climb

3–15% up

10%

Steep Climb

>15% up

34%

Descent

downhill

Steepest Sustained Sections

ClimbCRUX

KM 3.8–7.8 · +314 m

+7.9%

Descent

KM 13.4–15.9 · −163 m

-6.4%

Descent

KM 17.0–19.8 · −118 m

-4.3%

Finish & Cutoff Times

What it takes to finish

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

1h 50m

Winning time

2h 01m

Top 5

2h 17m

Top 10

3h 15m

Median finisher

4h 13m

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 40% 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 short-course effort with almost no true flat recovery across 21 km.

ClimbingVertical power

26%

Five climbs and 1017 m of gain, headlined by a 4 km, 314 m ascent.

DescendingEccentric / braking

40%

965 m of loss over four descents, with 34% of terrain trending downhill.

DurabilityLate-race resilience

34%

Repeated climb-descent transitions with no major flat stretch to reset the legs.

The Profile in One Line

Compact and relentless: 1017 m up, 965 m down over 21 km, with descending as the decisive demand.

Aerobic FoundationalClimbing 26%Descending 40%Durability 34%

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

Only 29% of the course is flat, so the aerobic system works continuously against grade despite the short 21 km distance.

Climbing

100

With 1017 m of total gain over five climbs, including a 4 km climb gaining 314 m at 7.9%, the legs must hold steady climbing power repeatedly.

Descending

Descending carries the largest demand at 40%, with 965 m of loss across four descents including drops of 244 m, 163 m, and 118 m that punish quads and control.

Durability

Five climbs and four descents packed into 21 km with minimal flat means constant load switching between ascending and braking muscles.

KM 3.8–7.8

The Long Climb

A 4 km ascent gaining 314 m at 7.9% is the biggest climb and sets up the race early. Managing effort here protects the legs for the descent-heavy back half.

KM 13.4–15.9

First Big Drop

A 2.6 km descent losing 163 m at -6.4% is the steepest sustained downhill. Braking control here decides how much quad strength remains for the final descent.

KM 17.0–19.8

Closing Descent

A 2.8 km descent losing 118 m at -4.3% comes late, testing durability when the legs are already loaded from 965 m of accumulated loss.

That was a sample