Treadmill/Travelator
Introduced on American Gladiators in 1990 to replace the ball roll up the ramp as the first obstacle. Two reverse belts were built into the ramp and contenders had to climb up the ramp using them. Gladiators installed this obstacle as the second-to-last obstacle on their Eliminator course, and the American series followed suit in 1993.
Originally on the American series, the female contenders started at the base of the ramp while the male contenders started several feet back. This was changed in 1991.
Each contender was given three attempts to scale the ramp with the treadmill, and was allowed to run up the side of the ramp if they could not do so. The belts increased in speed for seasons 2-4 as the rounds of play progressed but once the apparatus was moved to the second to last obstacle in 1993 the belts slowed and did not go as fast.
On the American revival series, which was the first to refer to it as the Travelator in the United States, the belts were much narrower and a rope was added about halfway up the ramp which enabled a contender to grab it and pull themselves up if they needed it.
Read more about this topic: List Of Eliminator Obstacles