As difficult as the Pikes Peak Marathon is, the Andes Adventures Inca Trail Marathon is more difficult. The Inca Trail Marathon has at least 2,600' more elevation gain and 3,200' more elevation loss. Although the highest point on the Pikes Peak Marathon is slightly higher (by about 260') , the Inca Trail Marathon climbs over two high passes (13,800' & 13,000') and includes additional climbs and descents. Mile for mile 20 miles of the Inca Trail Marathon is higher -- about 2000' higher on average -- than the Pikes Peak Marathon. Making the Inca Trail Marathon even more difficult are the thousands of Inca stone steps.

The elevation profiles were created using SportTracks. Elevations for the Pikes Peak Marathon profile were corrected using NED 1/3 arc second DEMs and elevations for the Inca Trail Marathon were corrected using SRTM 3" Viewfinder Panorama elevation data. A conservative smoothing setting (55) was used when calculating the elevation gain/loss in SportTracks.

The Andes Adventures Inca Trail Marathon was ranked #1 of the The World's 15 Toughest Marathons. We believe the Andes Adventures Inca Trail Marathon is the most difficult fully supported, regularly scheduled marathon in the world. The Inca Trail Classic 30K is run at the same time.

Also see Comparing the Inca Trail and Pikes Peak Marathons by Randy Keith.