07/15/2026
Nobody knows exactly why the Adena people built the Miamisburg Mound over 2,000 years ago. Historians will tell you it was likely a ceremonial place or a burial mound, but around here there’s another story that’s been passed around for generations.
The old timers used to say the mound wasn’t built to keep something in. It was built to pull something out. They believed every person who climbed it left behind a little weakness and came back down carrying a little more courage. Generation after generation made the climb. Hunters. Warriors. Leaders. Not because the hill itself made them stronger, but because choosing to make the climb did.
In 2010, we started our own tradition. Every summer since, we’ve brought a group of athletes here. Not because the hill is magical, but because hard things have always revealed character. For one afternoon, phones disappear. Excuses disappear. Egos disappear. All that’s left is a hill that has challenged people for thousands of years.
The Adena people may never have imagined modern athletes of all kinds would stand where they once stood, but I’d like to think they’d understand why we’re here. Some traditions aren’t inherited. They’re earned. Every summer, another group earns the climb.
