This is the "A Hill." It starts from a dirt road that runs behind and above Agoura High School in Agoura Hills, and goes essentially straight up into a series of big hills that are an echo of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area that wraps around the town on three sides. I was running along that dirt road for PE class during my freshman year in high school when, for the second time in less than a year, an adult told me that I should consider going out for the track team. The first time had also been during a PE class, while I was in 8th grade at Lindero Canyon Middle School. This time, I decided to take my teacher's advice, and my running career began that spring. The following summer I would find myself voluntarily running up that very hill, the one that was used as punishment by so many other sports at Agoura.
I had the opportunity to travel back to California in December, for the first time in 25 years. I was fortunate enough to travel on Thursday night, and I took advantage of some free time Friday by heading West from Los Angeles on the 101, crossing over those Santa Monicas, and revisiting my running roots.
<h3> Jeff George is the webmaster of NCRunners, the North Carolina MileSplit site. Starting this spring, he will also be the webmaster of CA MileSplit, helping to coordinate meet coverage and content.</h3>