The Incline

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There is a new Incline King in town: Greg Cummings tags the top 720 times in 196 days

Incline royalty, Greg Cummings (right) set a new record for Incline ascents in a year, tagging No. 720 in 196 days. Roger Austin (left) held the previous record of 719. Cummings has a goal to climb the Incline 1,000 times in one year to promote his nonprofit Change 4 Diabetes, which raises funds to help find a practical cure for the disease.


VIDEO: (This is good stuff) King Cummings is crowned

When Greg Cummings stepped on the final tie at the summit of the Incline a small crowd of about 40 people were there to greet him with applause and cheers.

It was a moment fit for a king, the new Incline King.

Cummings set the record for climbs in one year on Saturday, April 5, 2014. He now has 720 ... and he knocked 'em off in 196 days.

He began the adventure on Sept. 22, 2013, with the goal of climbing 1,000 times in a year to promote his new nonprofit  Change 4 Diabetes. A Type 1 diabetic, Cummings wants to find a practical cure for the disease. Researchers believe that a cure can be found in the next 10 years.

"It's a daily struggle," Cummings said of living with Type 1. "It's a terrible disease. It kills a lot of people. It's something that needs to go away."

Read more: Greg Cummings takes the fight to diabetes

His good friend Roger Austin made the final climb with him and presented Cummings with a gold-and-red crown - for the King - at the summit.

None of the Incline regulars, a tough group of athletes, each with the lungs of a Thoroughbred and quads like a Clydesdale's, have come close to Cummings' mark. Austin held the previous record, nailing 719. Joe Monger hit 500 in 11 months.

(Help fix and maintain the Incline! Join Incline Friends at 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 9, at Stargazers Theatre for the blockbuster documentary "Running the Edge: The Colorado Trail." Tickets here! Or, $12 at the door.)

Austin shakes his head in disbelief when thinking about Cummings' feat.

"Just incredible," he said. "It took me a year to do 719, and he's done 720 in just over six months. That's pretty frickin' amazing."

On his current pace, Cummings will tag No. 1,000 sometime in June ... and he'll do it in about nine months.

Cummings admits that some of the climbs were tough, but he's determined to reach his goal.

"A lot of days I would have loved to stay in bed," Cumming said. "Those days when it was minus four degrees, and you're still up here doing ascents. And then, of course, with the diabetes ... just this morning when I left my car my blood sugar was 320. That's just horrible. It's just such a yoyo with diabetes, you're feeling bad all the time."

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    Jill Suarez

    Good Work Greg we are all so very proud if you ..