My favorite post-work workout, quick hike, and all out effort training and trail run, I have climbed Mount Morrison over 30 times since moving to Denver last July. At 7,885 feet, Morrison is one of the most prominent peaks in the foothills of the rocky mountains. Located directly behind the famous Red Rocks Ampitheater, it is a stunning, challenging and very accessible mountain.
The standard trail up Morrison gains just over 2000ft in only 1.8 miles to the summit. Every time I try to attempt a PR, even taking just a few seconds off becomes the hardest thing I have ever done. My first attempt in November of 2024 took me just under 2 hours round trip. My best time so far is 54:22 round trip. Solid progress! Still nowhere near the fastest known time: an inconceivable 41:21 set by ultramarathoner Jon Rea. But ever closer I inch….
Mount Morrison has been a huge factor in the fitness I have been able to gain since moving to Colorado. Even beyond that, and beyond chasing incremental improvements in my time, it’s also just a ton of fun. There are incredible views of Denver, front range 14ers, Boulder, and the surrounding foothills. Also, if you go on the day of a red rocks show, you can listen to that nights band warm up or catch the start of the show on your way down! It is so cool to have an almost 8000 ft mountain only a 25 minute drive away, that I can just go run up quick before or after work, whenever I want. It literally feels like a cheat code to life.
It has also been a super easy way to easily get miles and vertical in. My two New Year’s resolutions for 2025 were to run at least 1000 miles and climb over 200,000 vertical feet. Having Morrison in my backyard has made it much easier to achieve that goal – sometimes I even do two or three laps up and down in an afternoon just to really increasing the suffering (and stats). As of today, 5/18/25, I am at 350 miles and 78,000 ft for the year. Right on track. Onwards and upwards.
