Apr
16
2013

Runners are Family

Runners are a Family

“Runners are family. There is this…. 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 it’s hard. Trust me, I know it’s difficult to get your sore butt out of bed when it’s pouring rain, or the sun’s not up, or its so cold you can’t feel your toes in your shoes. But we do it anyways. It’s this battle, this struggle that unifies us.” – Ryan Alcantara

Feb
21
2013

Ryan Vail Qualifies to Run World XC Championships

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 XC Championships 2013

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.

Read Ryan’s thoughts on the race

Jan
25
2013

What I Learned the Hard Way

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.

marci portland marathon

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…

Read the full article (Part 1 of 5)

Part 2

Jan
06
2013

Climb Every Mountain

Melody Fairchild, once a high school star, now is at the top of the mountain-running scene.

Fairchild-500_edit

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.

(more…)

Dec
22
2012

Max King Cougar Sighting

“Running along through the woods today where I probably shouldn’t have been and I think to myself, ‘those look like cougar tracks’, 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.” — Max King

 

May
24
2012

And you thought the “Big Day” was hard…

Photo by SalernoPhoto.com

Photo by SalernoPhoto.com

Max King just raced the 2012 Zegama-Aizkorri Marathon in Northern Spain on a cold and wet course that went up and down the Basque mountains, climbing and descending 17,700 ft of elevation. Max placed 16th with a time of 4 hours 24 minutes; to put that in perspective, Max’s marathon PR is 2:14 (which he set at the beginning of this year). In Max’s words, “[that was] the hardest 4:20 marathon I have ever done. I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck…” This is coming from a guy that runs all over Steens Mountains like a gazelle. Just goes to show, running is never easy. It will always take hard work and dedication. Way show us how it’s done Max!

Race Results
Read post-race article by Max King
View race photos by SalernoPhoto.com

Dec
23
2011

Steens in “This American Land”

PBS was up at Steens this summer documenting what the camp is all about. The episode is now online! Watch the video…maybe you’ll see yourself.