diff --git a/tests/edu/caltech/cs2/helpers/RuntimeCounter.java b/tests/edu/caltech/cs2/helpers/RuntimeCounter.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..960c1697bf234326d29712262d8ad5457dcadbb6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/edu/caltech/cs2/helpers/RuntimeCounter.java
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+package edu.caltech.cs2.helpers;
+
+public class RuntimeCounter {
+    public static int NUM_CALLS = 0;
+
+    public static void inc() {
+        NUM_CALLS++;
+    }
+}