Hill training--how effective did it help you for the marathon?

I can only walk, and not fast enough to prompt much cardiac development, so hills were a critical part of my prep for my last (walking) marathon, where I had my fastest time in 30+ years.

Not hills per se, but I found a parking garage with a nice up-ramp maybe 170m long: kinda steep, but not so much so that my normal running motion was significantly altered.

So: 170m up, walk down 3-4 flights of stairs (backward, two steps at a time), 150m acceleration on the flat, and repeat. Last few reps definitely got my pulse close to max (briefly).

Nuts.

Thanks! The hill I'm training on is 210 meters (686 feet) long and about a 4-10% grade total.

I can't think of any good hills off the olentangy but there is some climbing in the columbus marathon that it will pay off on. Heading west of OSU on Lane ave is a decent little hill at a tough point in the race. It caught me off guard even though I frequented that area when I ran it.

Marathon success ultimately depends on strength and stamina. Hills are great for that. However for a marathon, you'll get more bang for your buck on longer hills. Short & steep is good for power and economy. I would go find something long and moderate for marathon training.

I've had good success training for half marathons with a route that has a few hills between 1200-2000m long, maybe 4-5%. So a workout might be a loop that gets me 3-4 of those long grinders at a tempo effort.

Thank you! That hill at mile 18-19 was a change. They didn't have it in 2019, or the OSU stadium. A lot of people slowed up there at that point and some seemed surprised. It's by Beekman Park near North Star and west of 315.

I'll see if there are hills at Highbanks I can run at, and also at Sharon Woods and Blendon Woods. I've been told Mohican State Park is an idea, that is a bit farther away.

Has its ups and down

Every other week I do a 6 mile easy pace run on a course that has about 500ft of elevation gain. Definitely helps build strength and prevent injury IMO.

Hill training offers a natural resistance that, in my experience, makes you faster in even pancake-flat courses. Plus, if you live by a long hill and plan on running Boston, you can get used to the pounding your quads will take in the first half by running down that hill at race pace. And then add a workout up it if you want to prepare for the second half of that race.

Hill training helped me a lot.

Forest Park in Portland Oregon. Did lots of repeats and the trails are marked incrementally for distance. Really helped me adjust to hilly course.

A zinger by Greg, nice one bud!!!

There are not a ton of hills in Central Ohio.

-Highbanks has 10-11 miles of trails and a decent amount of rolling terrain. If you go to the bottom of the park, there is a picnic area to the right, to the left of the trail entrance there is a good hill for repeats. I could do 8x averaging 53 seconds when I was in 4:00 (1500!) shape.

-There is probably too much traffic now, but if you go up 315 north of Powell, and cross the river, there are some low traffic roads with good hills. Hyatts road in particular has a good hill.

-Kenyon and Denison are less than an hour from Columbus and have trail systems with significantly more elevation change than Columbus.

Thank you! I'm from Geauga County east of CLE and that place had tons of hills to train on. A big change to Columbus!

When I did hill stuff (if any here in Cbus) I would typically stick around to these:

Walhalla Ravine: Been able to knock out up to 3 minute repeats on this one.
Torrence Rd/High Street, Start from the starbucks/Wendys on that corner. Again been able to knock out 3 minute repeats.
Grandview Hills Circuit: Start at the corner of Broadview and 1st, left on fairview, Right on Merrick, Left on Urlin, Left on Goodale, Left on Broadview. I did a steady 8-6-4-2 minute workout there. Nice uphill on Broadview and a hard downhill on Urlin to work on both aspects of hill training.
I've also used the lincoln hill on Goodale for 1-2 minute repeats.

My personal preference is finding gradual hills as opposed to ones with extreme grades especially with my reps being much longer than 30 seconds typically.

Thank you BeersAndMiles. The hill I did in Worthington is 200m (Mt. Frontrunner, the locals call it). Even though there's no FrontRunner store anymore.

I'll note these. I love Grandview and know that area. Marshall's Bar and that area by First has some hilly spots too.

Years ago, Tinman argued that hills were a crucial part of marathon training for a specific reasons. Around 16 miles, he said--and I remember that figure--the elastic strength in a runner's legs begins to fade. He said that hill training, including hills in the final few miles of a long run, helped stave off that particular kind of tiredness. When elastic strength fades, stride length shortens. That was his argument.

I've always thought that hills were THE great training secret. I know that Toby Tanser argues this in "Train Hard, Win Easy: The Kenyan Way." I feel the effect of hill training very quickly. Within three or four days, I'm able to run a faster easy pace at the same HR. Long runs also speed up.

By the same token, a lack of sufficient hill training leaves you unprepared for hilly races. I just ran a hilly 10K on Saturday--about 400 feet of vertical rise--and although I carefully moderated pace, knowing exactly what was coming up (because I'd driven course several days earlier, shaking my head in disbelief), I still found those late hills a challenge. I was forced to slow simply to keep my HR from maxxing out. And I'd done some decent hill training! But not enough.

I use hills in marathon prep to work on speed, efficiency and power. Almost like an additional gym / weights session. With all the threshold and MP stuff it makes sense to me doing one session a week at the other end of the spectrum. Helps with imbalances and injury prevention as well as form. I do 8 X 200m hills built into an easy run at 5k effort down to mile effort. Not that hard but I got good results from doing that. I also do every other long run as a hilly one with a fair bit off road.

I love hill reps as a general fitness training, but I don't think it correlates to the marathon at all. For the marathon, you have to get your mileage in first, and do any specific training second. I would actually avoid any decent length run that incorporates too many hills because it beats up your legs too much (especially the downhills) and you risk limiting your overall mileage. Your overall mileage is so much more important. Other than that, I would find a course similar in elevation profile to your upcoming races and get used to running long on that. You will find that your body will specifically adapt to handle that type of course. Finally, any kind of workout to drop your lactate threshold is a plus, and hills actually don't help with that.