From the November, 2021 Oregon Track Club Newsletter:

By Don McLean
Running uphill is resistance training: building muscle
in the calves, quads, hamstrings, and glutes. It
strengthens the hip flexors and Achilles’ tendons. It
also builds speed, endurance, and reduces chance
of injury. Resistance training, or callusing, as Coach
Bill Bowerman would call it, is a tough cardiovascular
workout with moderate skeletal-musculature stress.
Finally, it likely increases your lifespan.
Here are a few hill runners: Herb Elliott, Peter Snell,
Kip Keino, Pre (and all University of Oregon greats),
Deena Kastor, Paula Radcliffe, the Ethiopians, and
Kenyans, including Eliot Kipchoge.
Oregonians are hill blessed. Consider these
opportunities:
1. Spencer Butte. About 1700’ elevation. Excellent, well-maintained trail with multiple trail choices. I
like the straight shot from Martin Street/Amazon Trail to the peak. I usually turn back at the monster
stairs which are unrunnable except for the most elite runners.
2. Skinner Butte. 250’ elevation, again with multiple trail options. Even with a slow, steady trot, it
takes less than ten minutes to the top. Great for repeats.
3. Hendricks Park. A popular venue for University of Oregon runners, past and present. Ditto the
Oregon Track Club Masters (Tuesday nights) once a month on the old road trail
behind the restrooms, near Fairmont Blvd/Floral Hill St. It is 300 yards, 80’ elevation, all uphill,
paved, shaded, with marks every ten yards.
4. Mt. Pisgah. Trail #1, the toughest, is 986’ in elevation, 1.5 miles in length, not one step of it flat or
downhill. Again, you see folks of all vintages at the top, from six to 86, maybe even older. Someday,
certainly, we will see Coleen Milliman (95 years old and the 95-99 age group record holder in the
Butte to Butte 5K).
5. The Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. A 31,500-acre expanse, 40 miles from Florence to
Coos Bay. Though a dune buggy infested habitat, their range is limited while the rest of us are free
(after a $5 entry fee) to run and roam in the forest, on broad beaches, and dunes, some as high
as 500 feet. Have you ever run on sand dunes? Whatever your background, take it easy! Save the
Himalayas, about the toughest, or best, of all hill venues. Pre would agree. He was running them
as a teen in Coos Bay.
6. Have you tried Everesting? It started as a cycling challenge where you ascend a given hill
multiple times to equal the feet in elevation of Mt. Everest. Forget that! Just run up and down your
favorite hills and mountains over time until you have exceeded the 29,032 feet of Mt. Everest. In
Eugene, Oregon, that would mean about 116 times up and down Skinner Butte.
7. When in doubt, run uphill.