Masters Running

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What's your steepest running hill? (Read 349 times)


MM#209 / JapanJoyful#803

    Near as I can figure, posie's double ascents of her nemesis hill reported in Monday's daily were 3/4 mile on an average grade of 26% making it the PNW equivalent of ilene's multiple runs up-and-down Signal Hill in SoCal when the best measurable nearby one for me in Seattle has been 18.5% for 1/3 mile up Queen Anne Hill. By comparison, Pike's Peak Marathon averages 11% and most of the big climbs in the Tour de France average 7-8% in the Alps and 8-9% in the Pyrenees. nice goin' goddesses. mariposai - 26% ilene - 25% tet - 18.5%
    my three mile route last night was up my nemesis hill (1009 ft elevation in a short and sweet 3/4 of a mile). . . . I ran up that baby like it was a flat course with a smile in my face. It felt so good the first time up that I decided to go back down and do it all over again. I think I finally conquered this hill.

    "Enjoy yourself. Your younger days never come again." 100yo T. Igarashi to me in geta at top of Mt. Fuji (8/2/87)

    SteveP


      I've called mine "KongZilla" hill. It's what all evil hills aspire to become. It's just over 1.25 miles and has a max elevation of 1078 ft. Most of the elevation is in the first 3/4 of a mile. The rest is a taper to the peak. I'm sure it's a landscaping experiment gone wrong. As long as you don't make eye contact with it, the hill is "do able". I may have found it's big brother though I've yet to tackle it.

      SteveP

      wildchild


      Carolyn

        Wow, Mari's hill is HUGE! I looked on a topo map, and the steepest trail run in my local state park is only 800 ft gain in 3/4 mile. It's hard to run the whole thing, especially the rock scrambling at the top. The altitude's about 9000 ft. which also makes it tough. But there are beautiful views of the continental divide from the top.

        I hammered down the trail, passing rocks and trees like they were standing still.


        #artbydmcbride

          Mine is only 365 ft, but with a 25% grade. Trails loop up and around and all over. "In 1975 the first professional street luge race was held at Signal Hill. By 1978, however, the races were canceled because of injuries to racers and spectators." Big grin Too darn steep!!

           

          Runners run


          King of PhotoShop

            I commented in today's daily about Mari doing that hill. I was blown away. I know nothing about the grades of hills. I remember when I wrote about hill workouts awhile ago, some people responded with questions about hill gradient, and of course I had no clue. I live just outside Dallas, TX and we don't have much in the way of hills. I have to drive 11 miles to find a hilly area. But I will share this story with you. In '04 I did a ton of work in Perth, Australia, and for those of you who know Perth you know the hill I am talking of. Perth is a gorgeous city on the Swan River, and if you run there, you often do the "Two Bridges Run" of about tenK, both sides of the river. But if you want a good hill workout, the locals do "Jacob's Ladder", like running straight up a hillside and it seems like it will never end. I did it a few times and it was too much for me. Anyone else know that area? I am curious to know. I think very steep hills, like stadium steps, are good for strengthening, like dorsiflexor work, etc., but that there are better hill workouts available as they relate to where you are in your training. Still, they are fun to talk about, and this is a fun thread. Thanks Tet. Spareribs


            Maniac 505

              Here is one Arf and I are doing in November, and I'm scared! Shocked http://www.catalinaecomarathon.com/course.html look at the hill at about mile 19, I don't know the grade, but it looks like we will need a rope Last year (the first year) there were something like 66 DNF's out of 150 runners Shocked and the website says beware of wild animals and rattle snakes Surprised


              i'm lovin' it... MM#1949

                Hmmm.. let's see. My house is at 250 ft and the highest point west of the mountains in NC (which are 2 hrs west of me) is in Hillsborough, NC which is 14 miles away it is 825 ft elevation. So I'd have to say we're flat compared to you guys! Best I can find for a mile is like a 6% grade. There is the Grandfather Mountain Marathon in NC that I'm going to do some day. It's in the mountains and is billed as "one of America's Toughest marathons" .... but since it climbs about 1000 ft total over 26.2 miles I guess you'd have to call this flat too compared to mari's hill! http://www.hopeformarrow.org/gmminfo.htm Cool thread! I guess the empire state building runs would be some of the steepest grades.

                Perch's Profile "I don't know if running adds years to your life, but it definitely adds life to your years." - Jim Fixx "The secret is to make in your mind possible what was not possible before. The secret is to make easy what was difficult, instead to make difficult what really is easy." - Coach Renato Canova

                btb1490


                  You guys are amazing! I don't know how you can climb hills that steep without blowing a gasket. I've done the Mt. Washington Auto Road, and that averages 12% with a maximum grade of 22%. At times it felt like I wasn't moving at all, so I can't fathom 25-26%. Well done guys!


                  #artbydmcbride

                    Here is one Arf and I are doing in November, and I'm scared! Shocked http://www.catalinaecomarathon.com/course.html look at the hill at about mile 19, I don't know the grade, but it looks like we will need a rope Last year (the first year) there were something like 66 DNF's out of 150 runners Shocked and the website says beware of wild animals and rattle snakes Surprised
                    That one does look like fun. And don't worry about wild animals , the bison are more likely to chase you. Big grin

                     

                    Runners run

                      I feel like a whimp, the steepest hill I normally run is a .25 mile 10% road. The longest is .7 mile with a 6% grade. These are excellent training hills, I doubt anything steeper helps unless you're training for a mountain marathon type of race. Our half marathon on this course has 21 hills for a total 1180 ft. climb.

                      Courage ! Do one brave thing today...then run like hell.

                      huskydon


                        I am a wimp. The sign on my hill says 14% grade (which is the maximum), and it measures all of .20 miles. But for me, it is enough! I think there is about 100 ft of actual rise over the entire length. I have to admit, after reading about these other hills, running my hill didn't seem quite so hard today. huskydon