Trail Running · Wellington

🇳🇿Xterra 1/2 Marathon:
Course Analysis & Race Readiness

A 21 km course with 425 m of gain built around one sustained climb and one long descent. The single 4.7 km ascent and matching descent shape the entire day, rewarding runners who hold form.

CourseRecon scores your own training against the durability and descending demands that define Xterra 1/2 Marathon — the sample analysis below shows exactly how.

21.1 km

Distance

+400 m

Vertical Gain

−400 m

Total Descent

Feb 27, 2027

Next Edition · 220 days out

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The Course · GPS-Measured

What 21.0 km / 13.1 mi and 400 m / 1,300 ft of vertical gain actually look like

Measured from the GPS track: 21.0 km / 13.1 mi and 400 m / 1,300 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

21.1km

Distance

+360m

Gain

−0.1 km+40 m

GPS-Measured

21.0km

Distance

+400m

Gain

Climb & Gradient

+400 mTotal Gain

−400 mTotal Loss

Gradient Distribution

63%

Flat

≤3% grade

15%

Run-Climb

3–15% up

Steep Climb

>15% up

19%

Descent

downhill

Steepest Sustained Sections

Descent

KM 5.1–9.9 · −214 m

-4.5%

ClimbCRUX

KM 0.4–5.1 · +203 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 20m

Winning time

1h 39m

Top 5

1h 44m

Top 10

2h 15m

Median finisher

2h 59m

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 56% 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 tempo effort over 21 km with 29% flat terrain to press.

ClimbingVertical power

18%

One 4.7 km, 203 m ascent averaging 4.3%, with steep pitches over 10%.

DescendingEccentric / braking

26%

One 4.7 km, 214 m descent at -4.5%, with very steep sections to control.

DurabilityLate-race resilience

56%

Repeated form under a single big climb, big descent, and flat running combined.

The Profile in One Line

Half-marathon distance defined by one 4.7 km climb and a matching 4.7 km descent, split by flat running.

Aerobic FoundationalClimbing 18%Descending 26%Durability 56%

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 29% of the course flat, steady aerobic output between the climb and descent is essential to avoid losing time on runnable terrain.

Climbing

100

The lone climb gains 203 m over 4.7 km at 4.3%, but 17% of the course exceeds 10% grade, demanding both sustained power and short steep efforts.

Descending

The single 4.7 km descent drops 214 m at -4.5%, and with 32% of the course downhill including very steep pitches, controlled braking and quad resilience matter.

Durability

At half-marathon length the challenge is holding technique across one concentrated climb, one long descent, and flat running without form breaking down late.

km 0.4–5.1

The Single Sustained Climb

From 0.4 to 5.1 km the course climbs 203 m at 4.3%, the day's only major ascent and the effort that sets up everything after. Steep pitches over 10% punctuate the grind.

km 5.1–9.9

The Long Descent

Immediately after the summit the course sheds 214 m over 4.7 km at -4.5%, with very steep sections that punish quads and reward controlled downhill running.

29% flat

Runnable Terrain

Nearly a third of the course is flat, so the finishing time hinges on maintaining tempo on runnable ground once the climb and descent are behind you.

That was a sample