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23-700: Barr Trail is used for the Pikes Peak Ascent, Pikes Peak Marathon , and the Barr Trail Mountain Race. The Ascent and Marathon start in Manitou Springs in front of City Hall and connect with the Barr Trail from upper Ruxton Ave. Both races ascend to the Pikes Peak summit at 14,115'. The Marathon is an out-and-back race that finishes at Ruxton and Manitou Avenues in Manitou Springs. The 12.6-mile course for

46-704: A course from Sierre to Zinal . Since its inception, the challenge has been hosted at competitions including the Three Peaks Race in the United Kingdom, Switzerland's Jungfrau Marathon , and the Pikes Peak Marathon in the United States. The event has significant variance in its level of participation: the 2007 race at the Jungfrau Marathon attracted over 4200 runners of fifty nationalities, while at

69-506: A row in 2006–2011, as did Steve Gachupin in 1966–1970. Larson won four times in a row in 1999–2002, as did Danelle Ballengee in 1994–1997. The following table shows the official winners of the Ascent. Course records are highlighted with green background. The longest-standing men's Ascent record (set during the Marathon in 1993 by Matt Carpenter with a time of 2:01:06) was broken after 30 years in

92-488: The World Long Distance Mountain Running Challenge competition, first in 2006 then again in 2010. The 2020 edition of the ascent was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic , with all registrants given the option of either transferring their entry to 2021, obtaining a partial refund and priority registration for 2021, or obtaining a full refund. At the time the ascent was canceled,

115-401: The run (dirt trails, rock, and other natural obstacles) and the high altitude, the race is much more difficult than standard 42.195-kilometre (26.219 mi) marathons . Winning times for the marathon are typically just under four hours (compared to elite "flatland" marathon times of just over two hours). Although the average grade of the slope is 11%, some sections are much steeper because

138-561: The 2023 Ascent by Rémi Bonnet with a time of 2:00:20. The 2018 Ascent was run on a shortened course of 7.6 miles, finishing at Barr Camp, due to inclement weather being forecast. 38°50′26″N 105°02′39″W  /  38.8405322°N 105.0442048°W  / 38.8405322; -105.0442048 World Long Distance Mountain Running Challenge The World Long Distance Mountain Running Championships (from 2004 up to 2014

161-511: The Ascent taking place on Saturday (slightly longer than a half-marathon , at 13.3 miles), and the round-trip marathon on Sunday. On August 10, 1956, Dr. Arne Suominen of Del Ray Beach, Fla., challenged smokers and nonsmokers to race up and down Pikes Peak, a 26-mile (42 km) race, in conjunction with the 150th anniversary of the discovery of America's most famous mountain by Zebulon Montgomery Pike . He enlisted 58-year-old real-estate salesman and holistic-lifestyle practitioner Rudy Fahl as

184-467: The Barr Trail Mountain Race starts at the Cog Railway Depot and ascends to Barr Camp at 10,200', then reverses back down to the trailhead via Hydro Street. A trail was first created by a prospector in the mid-1800s, but the trail did not allow for travel by burro from Mount Manitou to the summit of Pikes Peak. Beginning in 1914, Fred Barr built the burro trail, with a maximum 12% grade to the top of

207-638: The central portion of the race is relatively flat. The initial three miles (5 km) are very steep. The central 7 miles (11 km) start as rolling terrain, but become progressively steeper toward the end. The top 3 miles (4.8 km) are above timberline and require some rock scrambling to reach the summit. Oxygen levels drop progressively as altitude rises, further compounding the uphill ordeal. Winning race times differ significantly from year to year, often depending on weather and trail conditions. Some races have been associated with hot, dry conditions, and others have been associated with snow and cold at

230-409: The course is no longer than 45 kilometres (28 mi) in distance, includes an uphill ascent of at least 1.6 km (1 mile), and has a rough duration of between one hour and forty-five minutes and four hours for the elite men. The challenge does not take place on specially-made courses, but rather it is incorporated into pre-existing, traditional races. The competition was first held in 2004 on

253-550: The name was World Long Distance Mountain Running Challenge ), is an annual international mountain running competition organised by the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA). The race is a one-day long-distance running contest for both sexes which has individual and national team aspects. The host for the event changes on an annual basis, with the minimum requirements for the challenge being that

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276-459: The peak for his burro train business. Aside from his work on the major portion of the trail, he supervised a crew of ten men for the U.S. Forest Service in 1917 who built the portion of the trail from the top of the Manitou Incline down to Manitou Springs. He hiked the entire trail and made it to the top of Pikes Peak on Christmas Eve, 1918. Barr Camp was built by Barr between 1922 and 1924. It

299-447: The race director. The 56-year-old Suominen, a Finnish former marathon champion and outspoken critic of tobacco, wanted to prove that smoking diminished one's physical endurance. Of the 13 runners that accepted the challenge, only three were smokers. Lou Wille, champion of two Pikes Peak races in the late 1930s and a two-pack-a-day smoker, was likely to be the biggest threat to Suominen's hypothesis. . . . Although he had beaten Suominen to

322-401: The race directors were still hopeful that the marathon could be held, due to the limited number of runners in the marathon and the comparatively lower level of logistics required at the summit, since runners would be making their own way down the mountain. However, registered marathon runners were also given the same options as those registered for the ascent, should they choose to withdraw from

345-403: The race. Eventually, the race organizers announced that the marathon would be held, with coronavirus considerations, including canceling or paring down related events, requiring masks or other face coverings before and after the race, enforcing social distancing regulations at the start and finish, starting the runners in small waves, and eliminating some aid stations. Because of the nature of

368-488: The season it may be 40 degrees colder on the summit than at the trail head. Download coordinates as: Pikes Peak Marathon The Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon is a trail running competition that begins at the base of Pikes Peak , in Manitou Springs , Colorado , and climbs over 7,815 feet (2382 m) to the top of the 14,115 foot (4302 m) peak. Since 1956, the event takes place each year in late summer, with

391-414: The summit, Wille was disqualified for not finishing the race. In fact none of the smokers completed the round trip. "I think I've proven my point," Suominen said afterwards. "I finished the race and none of the smokers did." . . . It was widely rumored that Jecker's motivation came from an American Tobacco Association offer to reward a victorious smoker with a tidy sum of $ 20,000. The Pikes Peak Marathon

414-403: The top of the peak. The race attracts hundreds of runners for both the ascent and for the round-trip. The USDA Forest Service limits the number of runners to 1,800 for the ascent and 800 for the marathon, and the race registration typically fills in one or two days. The following table shows the official winners of the marathon. Course records are highlighted with green background. The race

437-438: The whole marathon. In 1966 a well-organized marathon was initiated, making the race the third-oldest marathon in the United States. In 1980 a good friend Rudy Faul and fellow runner Carl McDaniel took over as race director; he served as director until 1998 and was named director emeritus in 1999 until his death on August 23, 1999, only one day after the race was held that year. The Pikes Peak Ascent race has twice incorporated

460-578: Was designated a National Recreation Trail in 1979. It is one of the most frequently used trails in Colorado. Points along the trail include: On average, it can take six to ten hours to reach the summit from the trailhead. Many people schedule their hikes or overnight stays so that they are on the summit by noon in the summer, with the return trip down the mountain shortly after to avoid the threat of lightning. Other considerations are managing altitude, temperature, and weather changes. For instance, regardless of

483-400: Was lengthened by 1.1 miles in 1976, so that 7–8 minutes must be added to the pre-1976 times for comparison purposes. The most successful male and female athletes in the history of the marathon are Matt Carpenter , outright record holder and winner of the marathon on twelve occasions between 1988 and 2011, and Erica Larson , who has won the women's race five times. Carpenter won six times in

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506-500: Was the first American marathon to allow female competitors, allowing them from the beginning of the marathon in 1956, although no woman entered until 1958. In 1959, Arlene Pieper became the first woman to officially finish a marathon in the United States when she finished the Pikes Peak Marathon. Her daughter, Kathie, aged 9, became the youngest competitor at that time to finish the race to the summit; however, she did not finish

529-400: Was used by Barr and his burro train customers for an overnight stay between Manitou Incline and the summit. Staffed by year-round caretakers, the camp continued to provide overnight accommodations for Barr Trail hikers. In 1948, the U.S. Forest Service rebuilt the trail, following the original route. Burro trains were used to transport people along the trail until the 1960s. The 13-mile trail

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