The hill lasted 1.1 miles.
That was the memorable part.
Storm King was a seven-and-a-half-mile race in the Hudson Valley. I finished in 48:54, eighth overall and second in my age group.
Super fun.
The race was the last hard checkpoint before the Philadelphia Half Marathon. I had been building road speed through team runs, tempo work, and shorter races. The Storm King course replaced a flat pace test with a long climb and enough terrain to make the result less predictable.
That was fine. I liked the challenge.
The trip itself was deliberately optional. I sent friends the travel plan with a reminder that nobody was required to turn an early Sunday and a hard hill into their weekend. People could run, watch, or stay in Brooklyn.
I went to race.
The result said the fall training was working. In August I had broken forty minutes for 10K during a team run. By November I could handle a longer, hillier course and still finish near the front.
That did not guarantee anything in Philadelphia. It did give me confidence that the work had survived travel, triathlon training, and a season with more races than rest weekends.
I wrote the recap in five lines. Time. Place. Age group. Giant hill. Feeling good before Philly.
No life lesson required.
Run uphill. Run back down. Check the clock.
Sometimes the whole story is that a course was hard, I ran it well, and I had a lot of fun doing it.
The hill made sure I remembered which race it was.