Here's a trail puzzler for you

[Jeff Hester]

This question came in via email, and I wanted to share with the rest of the community to pick your collective brains. Mark writes:

I am preparing for the North Face 50 mile run in San Francisco and I was looking for some steep trails that would mimic the course…here is what I am looking for:

1 mile 700-1000 feet of climbing
2 miles 1300 feet of climbing
3 miles 900 feet of climbing
6 miles 2000 feet of climbing

Thanks for any help you can provide!

Mark

Any thoughts?

[Carisa Hernandez]

Depends what the San Francisco trail itself is like. Also, is Mark looking for trails and runs in the Frisco area only? If location doesn’t matter, the Bear Canyon trail to Mt. San Antonio in Baldy boasts about a 1,000 ft. elevation climb per mile. Definitely a good trail to prepare for more/ equally difficult ones. There is snow on the trails at the higher elevations though. Proceed with caution!!!

[Jennifer Iarossi]

Are his EG goals per mile or total over the duration of the distance? And is that all for one continuous 12-mile route or separate segments?

One of my favorites to hike uphill / run flats & downhill is Sierra Madre TH up Jones “the hard way”, across the ridge line the Wilson road, up to Wilson, then back down the main trail past Orchard Camp to the TH. That’s 13.2 miles with 5500′ of EG, almost all on single-track trail, some of which is shady. Extra nice because there’s water on Wilson and the creek is still flowing near Orchard, so you don’t have to carry as much water.

There’s a ton in that area that’s great for training! Hardcore trail runners do Jones repeats (1.1 miles, 1800′ EG), and/or you could also do a more casual run from Sierra Madre to Orchard Camp and back (3.4 miles each way, ~2000′ EG).

Santiago is also great for trail running, but man that dirt road to Holy Jim takes forever!

[Author]

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