A hill...

Last Saturday the New York Times ran an article about a trail on a hill. This trail is lined with railroad ties and the hill is actually Pikes Peak. With a gain of 2000 feet in about a mile one begins to understand why it is called the "Incline" among those who use it, and apparently, we are about to see a lot of people who use it in training starting on Friday. Yes, Olympians use it to better themselves no matter their sport.

Am I jealous? Oh yes. The closest thing we have around here is Jersey Hill, a 1/5th mile stretch with a gain of about 50 feet according to mapmyrun.com. The only other thing close to this is a parking garage, which, we do have a few, but always taking right or left turns gets old real quick. In the opposing view we have wonderful surroundings for easy runs. If a person needs an easy run the least they need do is head to the Constitution Trail, an old railroad track turned trail, and they will be in heaven.

The biggest reason I am jealous is that when I go to races with real hills I am like a fish out of water. The Akron Marathon is one such race. They don't proclaim to be "flat and fast," which I interpret as be prepared for hills and this September I will truly find out to what they are referring.