Pfäffikersee-Lauf: Course, Route Profile & Map

Course & Elevation

Start and finish are not on the water but on the Mercedes-Benz site on Industriestrasse in Wetzikon. From there the loop runs north to the eastern shore of the Pfäffikersee, circles the lake anticlockwise and comes back along the southern side. It is a closed circuit with a net loss of eight metres; start and finish sit at practically the same height.

Very little happens in the profile. Almost 60 percent of the lap is flat and not a single section counts as steep. Two rises interrupt that: a short one at kilometre 3.1, 300 metres at three and a half percent, and the real climb of the day at kilometre 6.6, 550 metres at a good five percent for close to 30 metres of height, on the far side of the lake from the start.

The character of the course comes from its surface. Around 60 percent is unpaved lakeside Naturstrassen, and in early October in the Zürcher Oberland those are soft after a damp night. The race belongs to the Leichtathletik-Vereinigung Zürich Oberland, has been run since 1979, holds a course best of 38:02 and counted 2,183 finishers in its record year. The main category starts in two waves, at 12:30 for all women and men from M50 up, at 13:30 for men from M20 to M40.

Pacing Strategy

On a lap that is almost 60 percent flat and holds no steep sections at all, the race is decided by consistency. The first three kilometres along the eastern shore are practically level, and that is exactly where the temptation to run a few seconds under target pace is strongest, because it feels effortless. Those seconds do not come back on the far side.

The decisive section runs from kilometre 6.6 to 7.2: 550 metres at a good five percent, the only place on the lap where real strength is asked for. It comes in the second half and it is short enough to be taken with a higher cadence rather than a longer stride. Picking race pace straight back up at the top instead of recovering gains more than the climb itself.

The real trap is the surface. Around 60 percent of the course is unpaved, and a pace that sits comfortably on tarmac costs noticeably more energy on soft, damp ground for the same clock reading. Pace goes ragged on those sections even though the effort stays constant. Running by effort rather than by watch there, and pushing again on the tarmac stretches, is the cleaner split on this lap.

Training plan for Pfäffikersee-Lauf: 12-week build

For a typical age-group runner the lap takes around 50 to 80 minutes. The character is a continuous threshold-paced effort with only one strength interruption. That is physiologically harder than it sounds: with no climbs there are no involuntary recoveries either, and the pace stays high from the first minute to the last.

The decisive phase is the short climb at kilometre 6.6 and, above all, picking the pace back up after it. Hill intervals of two and a half to four minutes at five percent, each continued fast on the flat, reproduce that precisely and are more specific than longer climbing sessions, which this course never asks for.

The emphasis of the preparation is on pace itself: threshold runs of 20 to 40 minutes and intervals over 1000 to 2000 metres at goal race pace. Part of that should deliberately be done on gravel and forest tracks, because around 60 percent of the lap is unpaved and stride length and push-off behave differently there than on the road.

Conditions are a factor of their own. Early October at the Pfäffikersee often brings morning fog, the lakeside paths stay soft long after a damp night, and the main category does not start until 12:30 or 13:30, in the warmest and driest part of the day. A few sessions on wet unpaved ground and a shoe choice tested in advance mean the surface is not a surprise on race day.