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Race IntelligenceTaitung, Chinese Taipei

Challenge Taiwan

Know your day before you race it.

Enter four numbers you already train with. You get a likely finish range, target paces and watts, and how I would race this course.

Race day
24 April 2027
Swim
3.8 km
Bike
180 km
Run
42.2 km

Published route evidence. Final 2027 route pending. Checked 15 Sept 2026.

01 Race Card

Build my Race Card

Your first range uses conservative assumptions. Add optional evidence to make it more specific. It is calculated in your browser and saved only on this device.

Your numbers
Distance unit
Weight unit
You and this race
Sharpen your range with more detailOptional. Recent swim, bike and run results, equipment and transitions.

Add only the evidence you have. Every control changes a discipline range, its uncertainty, or an execution-risk explanation.

Swim evidence

Replaces the broad pool-to-open-water assumption.

Bike and equipment

These replace broad mass, aerodynamics, tyre, and power-to-speed assumptions.

Run evidence

A recent effort and honest durability/acclimation answers refine the post-bike run.

Race execution

Transition proficiency changes the T1/T2 range and how wet conditions are treated.

02 The course

What Taiwan actually gives you

You swim two anti-clockwise laps of a spring-fed reservoir, ride two undulating laps along Taiwan's east coast between the Carp Mountains and the Pacific, then run a marathon through Taitung's city streets, Pipa Lake Park, rice fields and an ocean promenade. The bike's 1,546 metres of climbing is ridden twice on an identical route, which makes pacing lap one exactly like lap two the whole point of the day.

Show distances in

Swim

3.8 km

Man-made Reservoir

Layout
2 loops, anti-clockwise
Setting
a natural-spring reservoir near Taitung, with spectator viewing from the shore

A two-lap, anti-clockwise reservoir swim with clear sighting and shore-side spectators gives a controllable, low-resistance start.

Source: current course description

Bike

180 km

Undulating Coastal Route

Layout
2 loops
Setting
between the Carp Mountains and the Pacific coastline, out over ZhongHua bridge, past XiaoYeLiu and Doulan to a turnaround at BaWonWon
Elevation
1546 m published profile difference

A genuinely undulating two-lap coastal route between mountains and ocean, with 1,546 m of published climbing, makes the bike the course's defining and most repeatable variable.

Source: current course description

Run

42.2 km

Mixed City, Park and Coastal Promenade

Setting
Taitung city, Pipa Lake Park, the surrounding rice fields and orchards, and the ocean promenade
Elevation
271 m published profile difference

A varied course through the city, a lakeside park, farmland and an ocean promenade rewards legs that paced two identical, demanding bike laps rather than racing the first one.

Source: current course description
Where these course facts come from

These facts come from the organiser’s latest published material: swim, current course description; bike, current course description; run, current course description. They describe the character of the course. They do not confirm the final 2027 route.

03 Race plan

How I’d want you to race it

One job for each part of this course. The distance markers tell you when the job changes. The course tells you why.

Swim

Settle into the reservoir

  1. 0–3800 m

    Two anti-clockwise laps

    Use clear water to settle in

    A two-lap, anti-clockwise reservoir course with two turn buoys per lap gives clean sighting and calm water. Settle into a controlled rhythm you can hold across both laps.

    • Settle by 400 m
    • Sight the turn buoys early

Bike

Ride both coastal laps the same way

  1. 0 km–45 km

    Out over ZhongHua bridge, lap one

    Ride the first lap like there's an identical one coming

    The course heads out of town over ZhongHua bridge and hits the coast near XiaoYeLiu. This lap repeats exactly, so ride it at a number you can hold twice.

    • Cap effort on the early rollers
    • Fuel before the coastal exposure starts

  2. 45 km–90 km

    Doulan to the BaWonWon turnaround

    Pace the coastal rollers, don't race them

    The route rolls along the east coast through Doulan before turning around at BaWonWon. This is the course's real climbing, and it comes around again on lap two.

    • Ride to power or perceived effort
    • Keep drinking through the exposed coastal stretch

  3. 90 km–135 km

    Lap two begins

    Match lap two to lap one, not to how fresh you feel

    The second lap repeats the same climbing and the same coastal exposure, now on legs that have already ridden it once. Protect the same number rather than defending a time split.

    • Compare effort to lap one
    • Stay on the fuelling schedule

  4. 135 km–180 km

    Back to Taitung

    Arrive at T2 ready for a varied marathon

    As the second lap closes back towards the city, shift focus to the run ahead. Finish planned nutrition and let cadence rise before you're on your feet.

    • Finish the planned bottle
    • Let cadence rise before T2

Run

Collect on two honest bike laps

  1. 0 km–10 km

    Into Taitung city

    Run off two honest bike laps, not one hard one

    The run opens through the cultural heart of Taitung city on legs that have climbed 1,546 m twice. Let the opening kilometres be genuinely easy.

    • Shorten stride out of T2
    • Take the early aid stations deliberately

  2. 10 km–30 km

    Pipa Lake Park and the farmland

    Let the variety carry you, not distract you

    The middle of the run moves through Pipa Lake Park and the surrounding rice fields and orchards. Hold your planned pace through the scenery rather than letting it change your effort.

    • Reassess pace every 5 km
    • Keep fuelling on schedule

  3. 30 km–42.2 km

    The ocean promenade to the finish

    Spend what two honest bike laps left you

    The closing kilometres bring you onto the ocean promenade towards the finish. If both bike laps were paced the same way, this is where it pays off.

    • Decide the finish honestly
    • Save something for the promenade

04 Race week

What I would keep an eye on

There is no useful 2027 forecast this far out. For now, past race dates give us a point of reference. Closer to the race, the forecast will tell us whether the plan needs changing.

Forecast statusToo early for a forecast

A race-day forecast is not meaningful yet; check back closer to the event.

Temperature
22.4–28.5°CDew point centred on 21.4°C
Wind and gusts
7.3 km/hGusts up to 41.8 km/hPrevailing direction NNE
Rain likelihood
Up to 95%Wet-surface uncertainty retained

Historical baseline, 2019–2025 · Open-Meteo historical archive · Updated 2026-09-15.Historical comparison only. This is not a forecast for 2027.

05 Method

What goes into your range

Your CSS, FTP, weight and run threshold create the first range. Open-water, bike, run and execution evidence can replace broad assumptions. Course data and the historical conditions baseline shape every simulation.

  1. Your numbersCSS · FTP · weight · run threshold
  2. This raceDistance · water type · elevation · exposure
  3. Your Race CardFinish and discipline ranges, with target paces and watts

Confidence is built from four inputs

Athlete evidence
Builds with recent open-water, bike and run efforts
Bike setup
Builds with equipment, mass, aero and tyre detail
Course evidence
Partial while the 2027 route is unconfirmed
Race-week conditions
Historical baseline until a forecast is useful
How the model works

It starts with the targets in your Race Card, then samples the parts of a full distance that vary: open-water pace, transitions, bike speed at the planned power, and the drop in run performance after the swim and bike. Repeating that calculation produces a likely range rather than a single heroic number.

The current time calculation uses this race’s published distances, or standard full distance distances where none are published, with the available course headings, elevation and exposure evidence. Weather scenarios vary temperature, dew point, wind, gusts, rain and water conditions together. Unknown route detail stays visible as uncertainty rather than false precision.

It is not predicting your exact finishing time, placing, or race-day weather. It answers a narrower question: given the plan and the information we have, what range of day is plausible, and where is the uncertainty coming from?

Confidence is not a permanent “low”. It is recalculated across four separate inputs:

  • Your evidence: consistent inputs and recent race-like swim, bike, and run results.
  • Bike setup: measured or specified aerodynamics rather than a broad prior.
  • The course: verified distance and route character, including elevation and technical sections.
  • The conditions: a current forecast is more useful than a historical comparison.

It starts low when those inputs are broad. It can become moderate or high as the evidence improves. A narrower range means better information, not a guarantee.

06 Next steps

If Taiwan is your race

Your range is built on today’s numbers. The months of training before race day decide what those numbers become.

The work from here.

Self-guided routeFull-distance training plansTraining plans for the climbing durability this course asks for.See the plans Personalised routeWork with me on the whole buildCoaching when you want the plan, feedback and race decisions joined up.See coaching

Further reading

ArticleFull-distance race strategy: calm execution beats chaosThe pacing discipline a repeated, hilly coastal bike course demands.ArticleFix the first ten minutes off the bikeUseful before a marathon that starts on legs that climbed a coastal route twice.

Evidence

Sources and verification

Course status: Partially verified. The organiser’s descriptions and latest published route profiles are in use. The final 2027 route is not yet confirmed. Last checked 2026-09-15.