Alpin Team Trail Werfenweng Training Plan & Preparation

Course & Elevation

The K50 at the Alpin Team Trail in Werfenweng is a 52-kilometre loop with 3,450 metres of climbing that starts at 6:30 in the morning and brings you back to the village. This volunteer-run charity event in Austria's Salzburg region mixes flowing forest trails with technical alpine singletrack between steep rock faces and gentle mountain pastures, with the field across all distances capped at 600 runners.

After a first warm-up climb at kilometre 1.9, the biggest block begins at kilometre 11.5: 6.1 kilometres at an average of 15.5 percent, gaining 943 metres with pitches above 50 percent. Barely down again, the hardest climb of the day follows at kilometre 22.5, 3.35 kilometres at a brutal 23 percent average for 778 metres of gain. Shorter steep ramps at kilometres 27.9, 31.2 and 37.7 keep the legs honest before a final 3.2-kilometre climb with 343 metres of gain starts at kilometre 39.4.

Around 60 percent of the route runs through steep terrain, and the 3,289 metres of descent in the profile demand as much as the climbs do. The K50 is by far the most alpine course of the event and is aimed at experienced mountain runners.

Pacing Strategy

On a course with more than 62 metres of climbing per kilometre, it isn't running speed that decides the race but strength-endurance on the climbs and technique on the descents. The first section to kilometre 11 is for warming up — meter it defensively, because the decisive climb waits after it: over six kilometres, around 940 metres of gain with ramps beyond 50 percent, almost all of it hiked with poles. Invest too much here and you'll pay on the even steeper wall at kilometre 22 and the third big climb around kilometre 39.

Just as decisive are the descents at over 30 percent grade: they destroy tired quads unless you run controlled with a short stride. Plan consistent fuelling over the long duration and set your intensity to one you can hold for many hours — the K50 is won or lost on the steep passages of the second half, not on the few flat metres.

12-Week Preparation

Expect seven to eleven hours of effort on the K50, a full mountain day in a predominantly aerobic zone with repeated short, intense strength surges on the steep pitches. At 62 metres of gain per kilometre and ramps beyond 50 percent, this is not a runnable ultra but an alpine outing with running sections, including technical singletrack.

Two climbs decide the race. The 943-metre block from kilometre 11.5 demands an hour or more of focused climbing, and the ascent at kilometre 22.5, averaging 23 percent, is hiking terrain almost throughout, taxing strength endurance in calves and hip extensors to the limit. The descending is just as decisive: 3,289 metres of downhill, nearly a third of it steep, will grind down unprepared quads long before the finish.

Centre your preparation on long mountain sessions of four to six hours with at least 1,500 to 2,000 metres of gain, combining steep power hiking with technical downhill running. Train descents deliberately on tired legs and add strength endurance work for the legs. Back-to-back weekends with two long mountain days let you approach the total race duration without packing it into a single session.

Logistics matter too: with the 6:30 start you set off in the cold and run into the day, so test your clothing and fuelling strategy over many hours. Practise eating and drinking on the move in every long session, because at this distance more races are lost to energy than to fitness.