Day 1- It Only Gets Better from Here
Coach Flynn addresses the camp. Photo cred: Keryn Thorvaldsen
Year Four starts off with a bang as the campers rolled into the Round Hearth. This year we have a great balance between new and old campers, with 25 of the 54 being returners. After a few hours of settling in and playing games on the front lawn, everyone gathered for the welcoming speech. Camp Director Dan Flynn laid down some ground rules and then Harvard Cross Country Coach Jason Saretsky took the floor. His talk centered on the concept of “Critical Non Essentials” which are the things that you need besides running to be successful, such as stretching, keeping a training log, and having a healthy diet. Coach Saretsky also discussed general guidelines to being recruited.
After his speech concluded the campers headed out to the front lawn for a fun game of Side-to-Side. The campers then broke up into groups and after some ice-breakers, went for the first of many easy runs on the bike-path. When they returned, the runners did some static stretching, foam rolling, and core exercises, while dinner was being prepared. Dinner was lasagna, tortellini, a full salad bar, and to top it all off, chocolate cake. After dinner and some more laid-back time, the campers gathered for a goal setting lecture and left afterwards feeling very ambitious and motivated about their week and future running endeavors. The night ended with more fun games and it was heart-warming to see the new and old campers hitting it off.
The camp playing side-to-side.
Written by Eva Fandozzi and Fran Cusick
Stowe Running Camp 