Elevation profiles for running in Wisconsin
See where the hills are before race day. Draw a run or a course anywhere in Wisconsin and get its climb, descent and grade in feet, read from USGS 3DEP lidar rather than a GPS watch.
Profile your route
Tap out the run on the map and read the climbs. Free, no account.
Open Elevation Profile →Why elevation profiles matter for runners
- Pacing: knowing where the climbs fall lets you run by effort and save something for the last hill.
- Race prediction: two courses of the same distance can finish minutes apart because of the climb.
- Training: a profile helps you find local routes that match the hills of a target race.
- Recovery: long descents load the legs as much as climbs; the profile shows how much of both a run has.
For every kind of running
Trail running: forest singletrack, moraine ridges and bluff trails, where the climbing comes in short, steep pitches. Road running: neighborhood loops and courses where a few long grades decide the day. Ultras and long trail runs: long days split into sections, each with its own climbs and descents.
How to create a running elevation profile
- Open Elevation Profile and find your start.
- Tap along the route, closely on bends and switchbacks.
- Finish the line and read the chart, total climb and total descent.
A line can be up to 15.5 miles long. Profile a longer course in sections, for example between aid stations.
Understanding your running profile
Key figures for runners
- Total climb and descent in feet.
- Climb per mile: divide the total climb by the length to compare routes of different distances.
- High and low points and the range between them.
- Grade: the steeper the line on the chart, the steeper the hill. A 5% grade climbs 5 ft every 100 ft.
Reading the profile for pacing
Mark the long climbs and the steep pitches. On a long climb, settle into an effort you can hold; on a short, steep one, many trail runners power-hike. Use the descents to recover without losing control, and note where the flat sections let you make up time.
Wisconsin terrain to run
Trail running
- The Kettle Moraine: trails wind over glacial ridges and around kettles, with many short climbs and descents.
- Devils Lake: the bluff trails climb steeply from the lake, so a loop packs its climbing into a few hard stretches.
- The Ice Age Trail: long sections across moraines and river valleys; profile the stretch you plan to run.
- The Driftless Area: ridge-top and coulee trails that drop and climb again and again.
Hill running
Rib Mountain near Wausau, the Blue Mounds west of Madison and the bluffs along the Mississippi rise well above the land around them. Profile the climb in sections to see where it steepens.
Road running
Lakefront paths in Milwaukee and Madison are among the flattest running in the state, while the hill country of southwest Wisconsin has long grades. Profile a race course from the course map to see where its hills fall.
Training with elevation profiles
Structured hill training
Use the profile to find a hill with the length and grade you want for repeats, and to check that a tempo route is as flat as you think.
Race-specific preparation
Profile the race course, find its hardest section, and pick local training routes whose profiles look similar.
Building up gradually
Track the total climb of your weekly runs as well as the miles, and increase it step by step toward what your goal race asks for.
Pacing on climbs
Pace on a climb depends on the grade, the surface and the runner. Rather than a fixed rule, compare your past runs: their climb per mile against your pace tells you more than any formula.
Fueling and hydration
Climbs cost more energy and sweat than flat running. Use the profile to time gels and drinks just before long climbs rather than halfway up.
Injury prevention and recovery
Long, steep descents are hard on quads and knees. If a new route has much more descent than your usual runs, build up to it gradually.
Know the hills before race day
Draw any route in Wisconsin and read its climbs in seconds.
Using it with your GPS watch
A recorded run carries the watch’s own altitude, which is noisy from GPS or drifts with the weather from a barometer. To replace it with lidar ground elevations, upload the GPX to Elevate a File (it needs a pass, asked for before the upload), then import the new file into your training app. See GPX elevation correction.
Weather and elevation
Exposed ridges and bluff tops are windier, and in shaded ravines and the Northwoods snow and ice can linger on trails after open ground has cleared. The high point on the profile tells you what to plan for.
Data quality for running
Ground elevations come from the USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) seamless bare-earth model, with elevations above NAVD 88. Source cells are 3.3 ft per pixel in the finest work units, with about 9.8 ft per pixel and 33 ft per pixel sources elsewhere. USGS elevation data is public domain. Lidar coverage and source dates vary across Wisconsin. Check your site against the USGS 3DEP work-unit index; an unavailable lookup means coverage is unknown. Footbridges and overpasses show as a dip because the model is the ground without structures. More from the USGS 3D Elevation Program and Wisconsin elevation resources.
Frequently asked questions
How much slower will I run on hills?
It varies a lot between runners, grades and surfaces, so use your own data: compare your pace on past runs with the climb per mile of those routes, then look at the climb per mile of the new route. The profile shows where the climbs are, so you can plan to run them at the same effort rather than the same pace.
How much climb makes a run hard?
There is no fixed threshold. What matters is the climb compared with the distance and with what you are used to. Profile your regular routes first; they give you a scale to judge a new route or a race course against.
Can I use this to check a Strava segment?
Yes. Draw the segment as a line, following the route closely, and compare the climb and grade with what the app shows. Differences usually come from the elevation source: the profile here reads the USGS 3DEP lidar model.
How accurate is the climb figure?
The elevations come from the bare-earth 3DEP model, 3.3 ft per pixel wherever lidar has been flown. The tool counts a rise or fall only once it is larger than the model’s noise, so small bumps are not added up as extra climb. The result depends most on how closely your line follows the route.
Should I train for climb or for distance?
For a hilly race, both. Use the course profile to see what the race asks for, then choose training routes whose profiles look like the hardest parts of the course.