The two tracks below are identical except the bump is up (a hump) or down (a valley), as shown. Two balls are released together with the same initial velocity, vo.   The question is: which one arrives on the right hand side first?

Answer: 

On the upper track, once the ball starts on the hump it's SPEED is always SMALLER than |vo| until it reaches the horizontal again.

  On the lower track, once the ball starts to to go into the valley, it's SPEED is always LARGER than |vo| until it reaches the horizontal again.

Therefore, the average SPEED is higher for the bottom track than for the top track.  Since the DISTANCE traveled is the same for both tracks, the ball on the lower track wins!