Dare2b Alpenstadt City & Trail: Course, Elevation & Route Profile

Course & Elevation

The Hochstaufen-Trail is the signature race of the Dare2b Alpenstadt City & Trail in Bad Reichenhall. The 19 km loop starts and finishes on the town hall square in the heart of the spa town, and the organizer's billing of the race as hard, alpine and legendary is backed up by the elevation profile.

After roughly two and a half kilometres of warm-up through the streets, the day's single, enormous climb begins: about six kilometres gaining close to 1,300 metres in one continuous push towards the Hochstaufen, averaging more than 20 percent with alpine sections that get considerably steeper still. Almost nobody runs here; strong, deliberate hiking is what gets you up.

The summit is only half the job. Roughly a third of the course drops away steeply on the way back to town, demanding focus and resilient legs. In total you spend over 60 percent of the distance on steep terrain; only the opening and closing city sections roll flat. At 72 metres of climbing per kilometre, this is one of the steepest courses you will find at this distance.

Back on the town hall square, a running festival with exhibitors, food and a live band in the evening awaits, carried by the volunteers of TSV Bad Reichenhall. Alpine severity on the mountain, a street party at the finish: that contrast defines the race.

Pacing Strategy

This course is essentially one mountain, and everything follows from that. The first two and a half kilometres through town are flat; run them relaxed, without letting adrenaline pull you into the wrong pace, because nothing is won here.

From kilometre 2.6 the Hochstaufen climb begins: six kilometres at 21 percent average with pitches to 70 percent, almost 1,300 metres in one push. This is where it is decided. Running is not an option on these ramps; it is energy-saving hiking, hands on the thighs, steady breathing that count. Start too fast and you stall in the upper half at the latest.

From the summit near 1,740 metres comes an equally steep descent back to Bad Reichenhall, demanding focus and intact quads. The trap is trying to force the climb at a run; the second trap is a rushed, out-of-control descent.

Training plan for Dare2b Alpenstadt City & Trail: 12-week build

Depending on your level, plan on roughly two and a half to four and a half hours of effort for the Hochstaufen-Trail. The 19 km are deceptive: at 72 metres of vertical per kilometre this is not a run in the conventional sense but an alpine up-and-down event built around one extremely steep climb and one long, steep descent.

The demands come in two distinct halves. Going up, with gradients averaging more than 20 percent, you will be hiking almost the entire time, at high heart rates and with a major strength component in legs and hips. Coming down, eccentric muscle work takes over: a third of the course drops steeply, and this is where it is decided whether your quads survive to the finish.

Two sections decide the race: the climb starting at km 2.6, where pacing discipline determines whether you reach the top with anything left, and the descent that follows, which punishes tired legs without mercy.

Translate that into training: regular long uphill sessions built around powerful hiking rather than pure running mileage, strength work for legs and trunk, and deliberate downhill running to condition muscles and joints to eccentric load. Include sessions where you descend with clean technique straight after a hard climb, because that exact sequence is what the Hochstaufen serves up. Training only on flat ground prepares you for neither half of this course.