Traunsee Bergmarathon Training Plan & Preparation

Course & Elevation

The loop sets off in the dark from Gmunden's town square and returns there 63 kilometres later. From kilometre 1.1 the trail climbs just under three kilometres at 18.6 percent, before the hardest block of the day starts at kilometre 11: 3.4 kilometres averaging 33.5 percent and gaining over 1,130 metres to the course's high point at around 1,540 metres. At kilometre 23.6 a wall of 1.7 kilometres at 39.5 percent adds almost 670 metres more.

The far side of the lake strings three more big ascents together: 2.5 kilometres from kilometre 31.6, then 3.5 kilometres and 660 metres from kilometre 34.3, and a 25-percent ramp at kilometre 42.6, before the last rated climb arrives shortly before kilometre 50. Over 32 percent of the loop drops steeply, and flat ground accounts for under nine percent.

In the Salzkammergut the race counts as a cult event, and the full loop is capped at 350 starters. Thirteen aid stations line the route, and support from anyone else is permitted only there. The terrain is alpine, including via ferrata sections graded A and B, and the marking is explicitly not guaranteed to be continuous. Mandatory kit includes a headlamp, first aid kit, survival blanket, whistle, rain jacket and a litre of fluid. For nearly the whole way, the lake stays in view.

Pacing Strategy

More than 60 percent of the profile is steep, up or down, and under nine percent is flat. This loop barely offers a running rhythm at all, and the three-kilometre climb from kilometre 1.1 feels easy in the dark on fresh legs. That is exactly the trap, because the real mountain does not start until kilometre 11.

There the course rises 3.4 kilometres at 33.5 percent average with ramps past 70 percent, a section you walk and where any excess in the opening hours is repaid immediately. The race, though, is decided on the block from kilometre 34.3: 3.5 kilometres for 660 metres of gain, with roughly 2,800 metres of climbing already in your legs.

The descents cost just as much, since almost a third of the course drops steeply. Hammer them out of control and there is nothing left for the 25-percent ramp at kilometre 42.6 or the final climb near kilometre 50. The intermediate cut-offs from Kaisertisch through to Gmundnerberg also demand a plan for how long you stand at each aid station.

12-Week Preparation

Depending on your level, allow ten to sixteen hours of effort for the full loop; the 19:30-hour limit is set deliberately generously. The demand is not that of a running race but of a very long mountain day: eight rated climbs, long steep descents between them, and over 27 percent of the course in steep ascent. The genuinely runnable share is small.

The race turns on two blocks, the 1,130-metre climb at kilometre 11 and the 660 metres over 3.5 kilometres from kilometre 34.3. The second begins with about 2,800 metres of climbing already done, so build long sessions that deliberately place the biggest ascent at the end, and weekends with two long mountain days back to back.

Conditions shape the preparation too. The three a.m. start and the A- and B-graded via ferrata sections demand secure footing in the dark, so run at least one long session with a very early start and a headlamp on technical ground. Early July in the Salzkammergut can be cold and wet up high while the valley bakes, and the mandatory kit from rain jacket to survival blanket has weight, so carry it in training.

The emphases follow from that: long, uninterrupted power-hiking blocks of over an hour at 20 percent and steeper, deliberate downhill running on tired legs for the roughly 4,570 metres of descent, and fuelling management between the thirteen aid stations, since outside them no assistance is allowed.