I grew up in Maryland (I actually coach there too) and even though this isn't a particularly hilly state, there's a weird sadism that runs through course design here. The course for the state meet actually became a topic of concern for local coaches in the early 00's because they were worried that Maryland kids weren't getting recruited due to running so slowly at the state meet. I ran two minutes slower than my previous best XC race, and still passed kids on a hill 1/4 mile from the finish who were literally crying. Crying was a fair response.

In any case, college was nice. The upper midwest is pretty fast and smooth. I wasn't anywhere close to a good cross country runner, even by the adjusted standards of D3 in a "meh" program, but I loved a good race on a golf course. A few rolling hills so we could pretend we weren't on the track was just enough.