The Manitou Incline: Racing Up a Mountain

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The Manitou Incline is an old rail way near Colorado Springs, Colorado. In less than a mile, it gains more than 2,000 feet of vertical to an altitude of more than 8,500 feet.
The record is under 18 minutes by legendary ultra runner Joseph Gray. But most people struggle to summit The Incline in less than an hour.
Do you have the mental strength to conquer the Manitou Incline? Can you quiet your inner demons as you ascend into the thin air, one huge railway tie at a time?
If not, learn how to train your brain: bit.ly/3fg0m1P
Video Footage courtesy of:
www.ztmedia.co/
www.instagram....
Thanks to Joel Runyon for the inspiration! See him at impossiblehq.com/
Jason Fitzgerald is a USATF running coach, 2:39 marathoner, and the founder of Strength Running (one of the web's most popular running blogs and coaching businesses). A member of the Greatist Expert Network, he's also the 2017 Men's Running Magazine's Influencer of the Year and a contributor to Competitor Magazine, Active, Runner's World, Lifehacker, and other major media.
Visit strengthrunnin... to learn more about barefoot running, getting faster, injury preventing, and lifting for speed.
Twitter: / jasonfitz1
Instagram: / jasonfitz1
Facebook: / strengthrunning

[@SeeChadRun]

Nicely done! Makes me want to try it one of these days! I too live in Colorado, so might need to make a trip down south ;-)

[@Kelly_Ben]

Congrats on the PR!! I love racing up mountains, but not STRAIGHT up! Great video, I'd love to see you tackle more challenges!

[@that_fit_lif3]

Just moved to the springs from Folsom California (100 feet above sea level) 3 weeks ago. This morning was my very first attempt ever on the incline. I am a category 2 road cyclist but not much of a runner (40 years old). I learned a lot out there this morning, the false summit I didn’t know about and cracked pretty hard from there to the actual summit. My time was 29:04 and I was completely cracked at the top. Like puked! Haha. Not knowing where to exert energy and how to exert energy being my first time and not acclimated to almost 9,000 feet really made it difficult. I must say though I’m hooked! So humbling! I already have a reservation for the next 4 straight days. Thanks for the video! 👊🏼🔥

[@marlinweekley51]

Love doing the incline when out there every year to run PPM. Nice job! 😀🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️

[@kcbnccarter1]

I grew up in that little town and remember riding the cog.

[@befechko]

Hey!! I have a 26:55 PR. Thought I would throw some suggestions for you if you want to PR again! I never jog at all Lots of skipping stairs Use your hands (bear crawl/on your knees) It's more about strength training then running. The year I did my half marathon PR I ran it in 31. But after I had a baby I did a TON of HIIT workouts (usually 30-35 min) because that's all I had time for mixed with a little bit of trail running when I had the time. That got me to that 27 min mark Good luck man! Anything under 30 in bat shit crazy 😂

[@Themata]

On your knees? Hands and feet I can picture, but knees seems a little too extreme

[@MiguelPalaviccini]

It would be really interesting to hear a short podcast episode on how you would train for this as a race (assuming you have a base already built). How is it similar to that 8k training, and how does it differ since it’s all uphill? Does it involve more strength training than racing for a 10k? I’ll be on the lookout for it! ;)

[@casf120]

Part of me wants to say that a regime of less running volume and more strength training would suit you best for this

[@jowen7706]

That's on the bucket list to run. Nice job!

[@loums52]

Now THAT is a goal for me to strive for! Is on my 2021 list.

[@RunningAlive]

Awesome... solid effort

[@beckyequalsme]

I miss the incline so much!! Thanks for doing this 😁

[@jillsuarez6717]

Pretty awesome for 24/48 hour notice !!

[@grantstewart5453]

You had to have been holding back. When I did a 29:52 on 7/1/20 I had only ever just broken 20 minutes in the 5k, never ran a marathon or anything. Mostly just easy running up to 40 miles a week with a two hour long run and a tempo run each week. On that day I drove 5 hours from Kansas(1824ft), had a burger, then went and did it and drove home right after(terrible drive home). I left it all on the incline. It was a true max effort. The burn was in my arms and to the top of my head. I had been going out every two weeks for a few months and practicing on it, so perhaps I was quite accustomed to the course and how to pace it through various sections. All I know is, that was the hardest push at any athletic effort I have ever made. I was anaerobic before I got over that first hill at the start haha. I've got my weekly volume way up and my 5k is now mid-low 18's. I'd like to go back and throw down on it again. I think breaking 25, if I got back out to practice on it again regularly, is doable. Wish I lived there!!!

[@JoelRunyon]

"Mistakes were made" - GOOD JOB BUDDY!

[@JoelRunyon]

If people want to see just how badly Jason kicked our buts - check out the other video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qWnaoJ9ohdtqr7M

[@Jim-be8sj]

I think Joe Gray has the record on that. He might be the best mountain runner in Colorado.

[@JasonFitzgerald]

Yes he does! He's incredible.

[@learning_with_irving4266]

Doing this in 2 days will post my time , thanks for uploading!

[@casanjt8515]

Still waiting

[@learning_with_irving4266]

@@casanjt8515 ran it in 28 min :/

[@learning_with_irving4266]

@@casanjt8515 sorry 30 minutes

[@miggetymike1]

3-minute time lapse of the incline: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o6vMgYKogdRnrJI

[@jowen7706]

Btw, check out the Red Bull 400. I believe they are going to have one in steamboat eventually.

[@barefoot2478]

How many steps?

[@StrengthRunning]

Did you watch the video? I tell you in the first 22 seconds...

[@Down_Time_Productions]

The steps used to be far apart, so it was running up 2 or 3 steps at a time. Looks like its been changed so it's more like regular stairs. So don't complain about how "hard" it was -- you should have tried it 30 years ago when it was actually hard.

[@StrengthRunning]

You sound fun