Now & Then

Waveny Landmark: ‘Mosley Hill’

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Most great running races have a pivotal point in the course where leaders can separate from the pack while others begin to fade—iconic examples include the Boston Marathon’s daunting Heartbreak Hill, the climb up the Queensboro Bridge in the New York City Marathon and the grueling Cemetery Hill in Van Cortland Park’s famed 5K course. While it may lack the flash and celebrity of these obstacles, Waveny’s FCIAC Cross Country Championship course has its own formidable entry that has earned near-mythical status here in New Canaan: Mosley Hill. Located southeast of the main house, the hill stretches about a quarter mile from the edge of the woods right up to the house itself. The FCIAC Championship course—upon which scores of athletes will descend Monday, race day—has undergone several different incarnations since the race moved to Waveny in the 1980s. Even so, whatever route the runners have taken has always worked in the hill, named after the legendary coach of the New Canaan High School cross country and track teams, Bob Mosley.