Summer Running Camps: What\'s the Big Deal?

The school year begins, and the first thing everyone talks about is "what I did this summer." Try telling your friends and teachers you went to running camp, and the reactions and comments you receive are often the same; "you PAID to go running somewhere?," "you woke up at 6am to run…for fun?, "and "are you crazy?" are some common examples of what the average person will ask. So what's the big deal about running camp and why should you spend a week or two of your summer paying to run somewhere other then your backyard?

"Brevard [running camp in North Carolina] was really the only thing that motivated me to train over the summer early on in high school." Said an anonymous former Florida harrier. Sure, some use camp as a motivational tool but the biggest aspect of why runners choose to go to camp is the concept of team camaraderie. Anyone that runs the sport of cross country can tell you that a key part of any successful program is team camaraderie. Being able to not only respect one ...