Wed, Sep 16, 2026
Waco, TX
This is a Waco Striders Running Club member event built around a single repeated climb. Runners start at the Redwood Shelter, go up Jacob's Ladder, and return, stacking as many loops as they can before the clock runs out. The elevation gain is real enough to make each loop harder than the last. Bragging rights, split between open and masters groups, are the only prize.
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Going by the 2025 results, this is a small, friendly field, and the spread of finish times is wide, so this is a mostly recreational race rather than one for club runners.
· 2025 results
Top 3: David Arndt (1:00) · Brandin Roberts (2:00) · Nancy Nichols (3:00)
The Jacob's Ladder Challenge has been held every year since at least 2016. That is as far back as RunSignup's records for this race go, so it may well be older.
Enter a finish time to see where it lands against the most recent results.
How we calculate these stats: RunSesh calculates these figures from the most recent published results of past editions, sourced from RunSignup. We show aggregates only: field size, winning and median times, and the cutoff. We never publish individual finisher tables. Last updated Jul 27, 2026.
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Almost certainly not. Half the race field finished slower than 8:30, and the last recorded finisher came in around 16:00, so there is a long tail of runners behind the middle of the pack. Most fields are far slower than people expect.
It is a small race (16 finishers), which is friendlier and less intimidating than a big-city event, though the field thins out. There is no qualifying time, and the finish-time spread above shows how varied the field really is. If it is your first race, that spread matters more than the winner's time.
The race winner ran 1:00 while the median finisher took 8:30. That spread points to a broad, mostly recreational field rather than a race dominated by club runners.
