Steens 2013 Preview
Steens 2013 is less than 4 weeks away! Watch this highlight video of last years camp and get excited đ
Steens 2013 is less than 4 weeks away! Watch this highlight video of last years camp and get excited đ

Didn’t make it into a Steens session, but still looking for a solid running camp this summer? Check out these two options:

âRunners are family. There is thisâŠ. feeling. This feeling that you are connected, working together towards some common goal. When I run on a track or on the streets, I have this sense of pride, this sense of respect for everyone else out there with me. I know itâs hard. Trust me, I know itâs difficult to get your sore butt out of bed when itâs pouring rain, or the sunâs not up, or its so cold you canât feel your toes in your shoes. But we do it anyways. Itâs this battle, this struggle that unifies us.â – Ryan Alcantara
Drew Jordan, a four-time Steens camper and Camp assistant for the past couple of years, won the MPSF Championship 5,000 meter today. Jordan finished the race in 13:54.35. Nice job Drew!
Ryan Vail is a two time Steens Camper (2003, 2004). Coached by Greg Letts at Centennial HS, he moved on to compete for Oklahoma State and now runs for Brooks

Ryan Vail recently placed 6th in USA Cross Country Championships qualifying him for the world championships this March. Vail finished the 12k race with a time of 35:56…that’s 4:50 mile pace!
The world championship race will take place in Poland on March 24th.
Marci Gage (Klimek) was a three-time Steens camper and winner of the 2011 Portland Marathon. Here are some of her tips for continuing your running career throughout the years.

For those of you out there that want to make your place in the world of running, here are a few things that I have learned the hard way. I am a long, long way from anything near to elite, or even sub-elite status, but I have put in my time as that athlete with the desire to continue training despite the lack of agents knocking. Really the best/only way to learn is through hear-say and trail & error.
I would like to encourage anyone that has any interest in continuing their training to do so. Don’t get discouraged or intimidated, there is always a way, in any situation, to reach a new PR…
Melody Fairchild, once a high school star, now is at the top of the mountain-running scene.

Melody Fairchild in the 2012 World Mountain Running Championships, where she finished eighth and the U.S. women’s team earned gold.
She was the first high school girl in history to break 10 minutes in the 2-mile (9:55.9) and although she struggled initially at the University of Oregon in the mid-1990s, she came away a 3,000m indoor NCAA champion and an Olympic trials qualifier in the 10K. Melody Fairchild was considered a star constantly on the rise from her earliest years, until 2000, when after a disappointing showing at the U.S. Olympic marathon trials, her name disappeared from race results for a decade.
Fairchild insists, however, that she never left the sport. After weathering its many ups and downs since she was a kid, she simply took needed time to figure out new ways to come at it and maybe even enjoy it.
âRunning along through the woods today where I probably shouldn’t have been and I think to myself, âthose look like cougar tracksâ, then BOOM I scare a cougar 10ft away from his little hidey hole. Whoo, looking over my shoulder until I ran into the herd of elk then felt a bit more comfortable. First big cat sighting! That was awesome! I wasn’t scared until I realized that I really should be.â â Max King

Photo by Joe Viger Photography
Melody Fairchild just placed 2nd in the Loon Mountain Race earning her a spot on the 2012 US Mountain Running Team who will be competing in the 28th World Mountain Running Championships in Italy on September 2. Melody finished the five mile race in 47:06, just under a minute from the leader, Morgan Arritola. Great job Melody; weâll be cheering for you come September!