Hell on Hills 5K Recap

My friend sent me the link to this inaugural 5K a few months back. At the time I was still undecided on whether or not I would run a fall half marathon. I wavered back and forth for a month or two, but finally decided I wasn't willing to put in the hard work to run 13.1 miles this fall. Instead, I registered for the Hell on Hills 5K.

Hell on Hills claimed to be the world's steepest 5K. And the start line was indeed at the bottom of Canton Avenue. Known by name to Pittsburghers, it's claimed to be the steepest street in the US, boasting a 37% grade, steps rather than a sidewalk, and pavement that switches to old school cobblestone halfway up.

I laid out Flat Jessie the night before - unsure how the cold temps would feel. But I made the right outfit choice.

There was no parking at the start line, as it started on a small neighborhood side street. Instead, parking was set up down the road, with a shuttle to take all the runners to packet pickup, which was offered day of only, before having runners walk up a short hill to reach the start line.

When packet pickup info went out, I saw no mention of a bag check for the start line, a big no-no in my mind since everyone would have a shirt to pick-up & this was a point to point rather than a loop course. I inquired on their FB page & suggested bag check. I had a response within the hour, and by that evening a confirmation that there WOULD be a bag check.

Packet pick-up was otherwise smooth. Though the race was small, only 230 runners, only 3 port-o-potties made for a long line at the start, so I opted to hold it. At 8:30 the announcement was made to head to the start line, about a 3 minute walk away. So, I shed my sweatshirt (in 39 degree weather mind you) and checked my bag before heading to the start line.

30 minutes later, we finally started race prep. A few last minute thank yous and thoughts from the race director, the playing of "Climb Every Mountain" en lieu of the National Anthem + a few technical difficulties. Finally, at 9:11 AM we were off!

I was a little surprised at how good I felt running up Canton Ave. After that I figured every other hill would feel like a breeze. Nope. What I failed to remember is, just after cresting Canton, just when you think it's all over, you turn the corner and an even longer hill states you down. I walked a few steps in the middle, looked at my watch at the top, and thought, oh good, only 2.8 more miles of this shit to go. 

Mile 1 : 10:27

The start of mile 2 was a steep downhill, so much so that I leaned backwards rather than forwards. I was afraid if I leaned into it my legs wouldn't be able to keep up. To gauge the steepness, this road also had stairs, rather than a sidewalk.

As we all know, what goes down, must go up. You know, the famous saying. Of course, just on the other side of the bend we found a steep 1/4 mile+ uphill.

Also, man does this elevation chart make molehills out of mountains. That shit was steep. And literally uphill both ways.

Mile 2 : 10:12

There was a small reprieve at the beginning of mile three. It felt flat at the time, but the slight downgrade explains why I was holding an 8:30 pace with no problem. Mile 3 flew by, the race director was cheering on the side of the road, and encouraged us by letting us know there was just one more hill. She lied. We round a corner - the finish line is in sight. But instead of turning to go towards it we're directed down a huge hill, that we then have to run back up. What a cruel joke.

Mile 3 : 8:32

.26 : 3:36

Final : 32:49

Finally, the finish line!

My sick new medal...and my free banana (not pictured).

It was a sick joke of a walk to pick up the shuttle, which involved some Pittsburgh stairs, and walking up a few more hills. All in all, for a first year race I thought this went pretty well. The shuttle had some kinks to be worked out. As did the finish line festival - which was not fully set up when I finished, though I finished 10+ minutes behind the overall winner. But definitely a unique race to run!

Linking up with  Marcia x Patty x Erika for Tuesdays on the Run.