Trail Running · Colorado

🇺🇸High Lonesome 100:
Course Analysis & Race Readiness

160km with 6,315m of climbing and matching descent across 15 climbs and 15 descents, topping out at 3,976m. A high-altitude ultra where relentless descending and staying-power decide the day.

CourseRecon scores your own training against the descending and durability demands that define High Lonesome 100 — the sample analysis below shows exactly how.

160 km

Distance

+6,250 m

Vertical Gain

−6,240 m

Total Descent

Jul 17, 2026

Last Edition · Past

Check YOUR readiness

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The Course · GPS-Measured

What 160 km / 99.3 mi and 6,250 m / 20,490 ft of vertical gain actually look like

Measured from the GPS track: 160 km / 99.3 mi and 6,250 m / 20,490 ft of vertical gain. This is the terrain you're signing up for: read it before it reads you.

Course Profile

Segments

Daylight

Terrain summary

Claimed vs GPS-Measured

Claimed · Organizer

160km

Distance

+6,320m

Gain

−0.0 km−70 m

GPS-Measured

160km

Distance

+6,250m

Gain

Climb & Gradient

+6,250 mTotal Gain

−6,240 mTotal Loss

Gradient Distribution

35%

Flat

≤3% grade

26%

Run-Climb

3–15% up

Steep Climb

>15% up

33%

Descent

downhill

Steepest Sustained Sections

Descent

KM 46.0–50.4 · −629 m

-14.5%

Climb

KM 50.4–54.9 · +629 m

+13.9%

Descent

KM 54.9–60.3 · −678 m

-12.5%

ClimbCRUX

KM 12.9–23.5 · +1,244 m

+11.8%

Finish & Cutoff Times

What it takes to finish

Reference finish times from past results — use them to set a realistic goal pace.

18h 52m

Winning time

22h 55m

Top 5

23h 55m

Top 10

32h 44m

Median finisher

37h 00m

Back of pack

What This Race Demands

Four things this course asks of your body

Every course weights the four pillars of mountain-ultra fitness differently. Descending carries 41% of the scoring weight on this course — the terrain makes that the deciding factor.

Weighting shows where readiness is won or lost at this distance — not whether you need each pillar. An aerobic base is a given for a race this long, so it carries little deciding weight even though it's essential — the gaps open on the climbs, descents and the back half.

AerobicSustained engine

Foundational

Sustained effort at altitude from 2,614m start to a 3,976m high point across 160km.

ClimbingVertical power

19%

15 climbs totaling 6,315m, including one 11.3km ascent gaining 1,244m at 11.8%.

DescendingEccentric / braking

41%

6,314m of loss across 15 descents, with the longest 10.6km dropping 1,134m.

DurabilityLate-race resilience

41%

Repeated steep up-and-down over 160km with quads pounded by 6,314m of total descent.

The Profile in One Line

A 160km altitude circuit trading 6,315m of gain against equal loss, with descending and durability carrying the greatest demand.

Aerobic FoundationalClimbing 19%Descending 41%Durability 41%

Here's how CourseRecon reads a course and an athlete

Sample Readiness Analysis

What a readiness result looks like for this course

This is a worked example for a representative strong mountain-ultra athlete — not your score. Connect your own training and the same analysis runs on you.

Sample

OUT OF 100

MOSTLY READY

For a representative strong mountain-ultra athlete

This is a sample — connect your Strava to see your own result.

Pillar Breakdown

Aerobic

Racing between 2,614m and 3,976m means thin air taxes the aerobic system across the full 160km. Sustained output must hold as elevation stays high throughout.

Climbing

Fifteen climbs stack 6,315m of gain, with steep and very steep grades making up over 25% of the course. The signature 1,244m ascent at 11.8% demands strong, efficient climbing legs.

Descending

At 38% of the course, descending is the dominant terrain, including a 10.6km drop losing 1,134m and repeated very steep grades. Controlling speed while sparing the legs is decisive.

Durability

Fifteen climb-descent cycles over 160km with 6,314m of pounding loss test structural resilience. Late-race sections punish anyone whose legs have degraded on the descents.

km 12.9–23.5

The 1,244m Ascent

The biggest climb spans 11.3km gaining 1,244m at 11.8%, arriving early while there's still 137km to go. Overspending here compromises the entire rest of the day.

km 46–60

The Descent-Climb-Descent Trap

A 629m drop at -14.5%, an immediate 629m climb at 13.9%, then another 678m descent at -12.5% hit in sequence. This whipsaw of steep grades shreds quads and rewards controlled pacing.

Overall

Cumulative Descent Load

With 6,314m of loss across 15 descents and the longest losing 1,134m over 10.6km, quad durability governs the finish. Legs that fail on the downhills cannot be recovered.

That was a sample