Course-Aware Pacing for ultra marathons
Published · Updated
Average pace is a poor description of many ultra marathon courses. Climbing, descending, checkpoint stops and cutoffs can make two sections of the same distance very different planning problems. Course-Aware Pacing is Track3D’s way of turning a target finish into a course specific timing plan.
Terrain matters
Track3D first moved beyond even pacing by using the course elevation profile to change how time was distributed across climbing and descending terrain.
That principle remains central to Course-Aware Pacing: the plan should reflect the course rather than assume every kilometre will take the same amount of time.
Keep the runner’s finish target
The runner still chooses the target finish time. Course-Aware Pacing determines how that time can be distributed across the planned course while accounting for the information available to the Race Plan.
Planned checkpoint stops are part of the schedule, and race cutoffs can be considered when checking whether a requested plan is compatible with the supplied constraints.
A planning tool, not a promise
Course-Aware Pacing is intended to help build a more useful race plan. It does not prove that a runner can physiologically achieve a selected finish time and it cannot predict every condition that will occur during an ultra.
The output should be treated as planning information that can be reviewed and adjusted by the runner.