On July 20, 42 members of the Crescenta Valley High School cross country team headed north to Mammoth for their 23rd annual training camp. The camp is held in Mammoth Mountain RV Park in a large tent camping area.

In addition to the 42 current runners, the group also included 24 parents, 12 future Falcons, five alumni and three coaches. The athletes and parents returned to La Crescenta on Saturday, July 27.

The training camp began each morning with a wake up call from Coach Mark Evans at 6:30 a.m. The runners needed to be ready to head out for their morning workout by 7:30 a.m.

The morning runs were the most demanding of the day. The athletes were running at an altitude of 7500 and 8000 feet and covering eight to 10 miles a day with a few of the more mature runners occasionally going farther. The boys and girls varsity runners covered about 80 miles during the week with the younger runners averaging between 65 and 70 miles.

Most of the traditional trails were traveled including Obsidian Hill run, Sawmill Road run to Highway 395, Inyo Craters run, repeat miles in Shady Rest Park and Mammoth Rock.

Following the morning run, the athletes headed over to Cold Creek for a 10 to 15 minute soak in the refreshing stream. In the afternoon, the athletes ran over to Shady Rest Park for the afternoon workout.

Due to heavy smoke from a fire in the Western Sierras, runs were rotated in order to find clean air. On Wednesday, CVHS athletes were not able to meet the Nike team member at Shady Rest Park as they typically do for the mile repeat runs that Nike team normally videos and shows that evening in their Nike store. The smoke was too heavy to safely run, so the workout was switched to an area south of Mammoth. The Nike team members did run with the Crescenta Valley team, but no video was made.

That evening, the Nike team hosted the runners for a pizza dinner, games and an evening of fun and relaxation. The Boosters Club purchased mesh shirts for each of the runners.

On Thursday, the team, with the help of the parents transporting members, made the traditional trip to Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park. Due to a thunderstorm, the annual hike to the top of Lambert Dome did not take place. The group, however, did head down to its favorite swimming and jumping hole.

This very successful trip could not have been possible without the help of the athletes’ parents who also attend the training camp. They drove the athletes to and from La Crescenta and provided transportation whenever the runners needed to be in a location away from camp. They also provided meals for the runners three times a day as well as snacks whenever necessary. The kitchen staff this year was especially talented.

Submitted by Dennis OLIVER

  DENNIS OLIVER