Builds character that you saw it through!
I did a trail 10K once that was killer. It was SO much fun but killer b/c the mud was insane .. .almost up to my knees and it took a lot of strength to get through several miles of this. Then up hill like you said. I finished and looked back thinking . . .darn, that was a good race, much tougher than I expected but I feel good.
My time sucked too but I finished.
You finished and you should feel proud! Sounds like a very tough course.