Where We Run: Hereford's Falls Road Workout

In the past, conversations with other Maryland runners about Hereford XC normally end up talking about the dip and how our coaches must have made us run it for workouts. I don't remember ever running dips as a workout since there were far more brutal hills within a few miles of the school that our coaches would have us run. By far, the Falls Road hills were the toughest.

I remember doing it about once a year in early track season, probably around spring break. We'd start at the school and would run the ~3.5 miles to the base of the hill through the trails in the state park. The hill itself was a bit under a half a mile and we'd do it three times. It started out gradually and would get steeper until the end of the repeat. By the last 200 meters or so, my legs would be burning and it would be very hard to maintain form and pace.

Coach Roemer kept track of the fastest individual repeat, as well as the fastest average and we'd use these as motivation to push the workout versus just trying to complete it. I think Mason Rivera may have the fastest individual repeat (slightly under 2:30) and I probably have the fastest average if Mason didn't - I averaged 2:34 my junior year and I'm unaware of anyone else who did it faster, but you should check with John Roemer.

Although the workout was brutal, the cooldown was even more difficult and the hardest part of the run. The warmup to the base of the hill was mostly downhill, so the cooldown was a ~3.5 mile trudge up very steep and technical trails. 

I personally haven't done the workout since I've left high school but I've ran the trails in the area and ran up the road when I was home for breaks during college since I lived near the area.