suck at hilly courses... need advice

Yeah i have the same problem, On a hilly course a lot of my teammates will smoke me especially in the last couple miles of an 8k, but on a flat course I can beat them and stay closer to our top guys, problem is that im a pretty big guy for a runner 6-1 170 and that makes it alot harder to tackle hills than guys that are smaller.

Just do hill repeats and distance runs over hilly roads or trails. Hill sprints are great as well for developing strength.

Try running in sand and up hills with a short stride, and focus on getting the knees up and doing it efficiently, pulling across the ground instead of driving off of it. And keep your hips forward or under you. If that doesn't work then just hit the downhills harder...

First of all never strain on the hills. A 100m hill taken too hard can completely ruin a race for a runner. Most hills that hurt your calves or thighs aren't long enough that if someone were to pass you, you wouldn't be able to make up the ground. Having just placed 2nd/90 in my entire school district on a hilly course, having been ranked 8th/90 coming into it, I can tell you that pretend that someone passes you and has 10 meters on you at the top of the hill. Do you realize how much extra energy he just used exerting himself? Pick him up on the downhill or flat section afterward.

Some people disagree. But it always works for me. Just make sure your effort is always the same, it shouldn't hurt much more to go up a hill than to run a flat or downhill, you just have to adjust your speed to fit your effort. Capische?

run more hills.

DON'T sprint downhill. A lot of runners (esp highschoolers) will struggle uphill and then totally lose form on the way down and go as fast as they can while flailing their arms everywhere. Work on keeping your chest up and your arms loose while going uphill- don't hunch over or bunch up your shoulders- bounding exercises may help. On the way back down, work on keeping form and increasing turnover while staying in control and not wasting breath.

1) Hill repeats

2)Run some of your training runs over hills. Even on easy runs do the hills at a strong effort. A little bit of easy hill fartlek is not going to take much out of you. Put a lot of emphasis in retaining good form.

I went to high school in the pancake flat midwest, and am now at college in a semi-hilly area. I used to fear hills, but at an XC meet recently I found myself flying over them. Now I just take a hill and make it my bitch! I attribute this to the fact that all last spring and this fall I ran 12 milers once a week in a hilly area. The rest of my week, about half my runs contained some hills, the rest were flat. Training on hills- real hills, not sled hills or onramps or whatever, is the best thing you can possibly do. Pretty soon you will be smoking your teammates the way you know you can.