Heartbreak is the last of four "Newton Hills" and will surely determine ultimate success or decomposition at the Boston Marathon. Heartbreak Hill itself rises only 80 vertical feet, but is positioned at a point on a marathon course where muscle glycogen stores are likely to be depleted—a phenomenon referred to by marathoners as "hitting the wall." This ascent over one-half mile of the Boston Marathon course, between the 20 and 21 mile marks, in the vicinity of Boston College. The four "hills" begin at the 16 mile mark. The Newton Hills confound contestants (out of proportion to their modest elevation gain) by forcing a late climb after the downhill trend of the race to that point. For runners: at the Top (mile 21), when your glycogen runs out, you begin to hate the world. I'm just alerting you to the fact that your body and brain undergo chemical changes during the marathon, and as you can guess, mood and psyche play an important role in athletic performance. The more training miles you've put in, the more manageable this problem becomes. This hill does not, as one may think, get its name from the many runners being heartbroken from the fact that they have to conquer yet another ascent, but the name does originate in the Boston Marathon. The nickname "Heartbreak Hill" originated with an event in the 1936 race. On this stretch, defending champion John A. Kelley caught race leader Ellison "Tarzan" Brown, giving Brown a consolatory pat on the shoulder as he passed. His competitive drive apparently stoked by this gesture, Tarzan Brown rallied, pulled away from Kelley, and went on to win—in the words of Boston Globe reporter Jerry Nason, "breaking Kelley's heart."