“marched up.” More literally, “having gone up,” but in this case “marched” catches the sense in English (cp. HCSB; ESV; NIC; NJB, RSV). The uphill march is between 15 and 20 miles depending on the route they took, and uphill in elevation some 3,400 feet. This is just one example in the Bible where doing the will of God is not easy. Sometimes Christians teach that if something is the will of God then it will be easy or go smoothly, but this is just one example that shows that is not always the case. Not only did Joshua march uphill all night, then he fought all day; then he stopped the sun from going down and fought even more (Josh. 10:12-13). Like the prophecy of the Messiah in Isa. 50:7, sometimes we have to set our faces like a flint in order to do the will of God. The march uphill from Gilgal at the Jordan River to Gibeon in the hill country would likely take an army in good shape seven to eight hours.