Trailrun Graubünda: Course, Elevation & Route Profile

Course & Elevation

Start and finish are at the Roland Arena near Lantsch/Lenz, about five kilometres from the village centre of Lenzerheide. The first 900 metres rise gently at six per cent, and then from kilometre 1.85 comes the climb that defines the course: 8.2 kilometres averaging 17 per cent with ramps to 37, some 1,400 metres of vertical in one unbroken effort. From the low point at 1,385 metres the route reaches 2,856 metres on the Parpaner Rothorn.

At more than fifteen kilometres the descent is by far the longer half of the race, and it is not recovery: 31 per cent of the total distance drops steeply, in places on technically demanding singletrail. Only near the end does a last short counter-climb of 480 metres and not quite 40 metres of vertical interrupt the descent before the loop closes in the arena. Across the full 26.1 kilometres only six per cent of the ground is genuinely flat.

2026 is the fifth edition of the Trailrun Graubünda and the first under that name: until 2025 it was the FHGR Trailrun. The race is run in alpine terrain under partial self-sufficiency, with a mobile phone, at least eight decilitres of fluid, an emergency kit and a course map as compulsory equipment. At almost 2,900 metres in late September the organisers explicitly warn of weather swings, sudden temperature drops and thunderstorms; the cut-off at the finish is 3 pm.

Pacing Strategy

On a course with 60 metres of vertical per kilometre and one single long climb, pace is the wrong variable to steer by. Averaging 17 per cent, the 8.2 kilometres from kilometre 1.85 are hiking terrain for almost everyone in the field; what matters is settling from the outset into a hiking rhythm you can hold for ninety minutes or more, rather than running the first ramps and arriving empty at the top. Poles are permitted on every course here and are the obvious help.

Even so, the race is decided on the descent rather than the climb. More than fifteen kilometres downhill, a third of it steep and partly technical, costs far more time than most people plan for, and it demands quadriceps strength that is no longer a given after 1,400 metres of climbing. Spend too much of your legs going up and you pay for it twice coming down.

The classic trap is the summit. At 2,856 metres the air is thin, the wind is cold and the temptation to push straight on is strong. It pays to put the wind layer on, take a drink and treat the first minutes of the descent with restraint. And the last counter-climb at kilometre 24.7 belongs in the plan: 480 metres of climbing after two hours of descending feels far longer than it looks on the profile.

Training plan for Trailrun Graubünda: 12-week build

For a typical age-group field the effort runs to somewhere between three and four and a half hours; the 3 pm cut-off allows exactly four and a half from the 10:30 start. The demand splits in two: first a long, steady aerobic hiking effort uphill, then an equally long eccentric effort on the way down. The two have to be prepared separately.

For the climb what counts is being able to hike steeply uphill for one to two hours without drifting over threshold. Long mountain hikes of 800 to 1,200 metres in one unbroken ascent, with poles and with a loaded pack, match the demand better than short hill intervals. Seeking out gradients around 15 to 20 per cent matters more than accumulating kilometres.

The race-deciding preparation is the descent. Fifteen kilometres of technical downhill running after a long climb call for eccentric strength, sure footing on roots and rock, and the willingness to keep reacting quickly when tired. Train only uphill and you will reach the Rothorn in good shape and lose the second half of your day. Descent work therefore belongs at the end of long sessions rather than the beginning.

Conditions come down to altitude. The high point sits at almost 2,900 metres, and in late September that can mean snow, fog or hard wind while the sun is still out at the 1,385 metre start. A few sessions above 2,000 metres, a tested layering combination of wind shell, warm long-sleeve layer and gloves, plus real familiarity with your own compulsory kit, belong in the plan every bit as much as the volume does.