Sam Lewis
Lead Tent Coach
First year at Steens: 2009
Current Location: Moscow, ID.
Occupation: Professional trail and mountain runner for On, PhD candidate at University of Idaho studying philosophy of sports/sport ethics
High School: Boulder High School, CO.
College: Oregon State University (B.S.), University of Idaho (M.S., PhD candidate)
Degree: B.S. Exercise and Sport Science, Minor: Spanish, M.S. Movement and Leisure Sciences, PhD candidate Philosophy of Sport/Sport Ethics
USATF Level One Certified Coach
Athletic/Academic Honors:
Sam is a professional trail and mountain for On competing on the world stage. Sam has represented Team USA three times: 2022 World and Trail Running Championships, 2019 World Mountain Running Championships, and 2019 NACAC Mountain Running Championships. Sam has multiple Top 10 finishes at USATF Championship races, including a 2nd place finish at the 2021 USATF Trail Marathon Championships and she won the 2019 USATF Trail Half Marathon Championships. Sam was named the 2019 USATF Sub-Ultra Runner of the Year. Sam recently finished 17th at the 2024 UTMB World Series Finals – OCC.
Career/Professional/Coaching Highlights:
Sam is currently a PhD candidate in The Center for ETHICS* at University of Idaho studying philosophy of sports and sport ethics. Sam is the host and producer of the podcast, “The Coaches’ Dilemma: What Will You do to Win?” which is designed to support coaches and the athletic community in emphasizing the lived experience of the athletes, their individual journeys. Sam has presented her research on the lived experience at national and international conferences across the United States.
Sam spent seven years as the Assistant Distance Coach with University of Idaho’s Track & Field/Cross Country working with the Head Distance Coach, Travis Floeck. During Sam’s time at UI, she worked with NCAA All-American Lorenz Hermann in the 800m, multiple Big Sky Conference Champions, and school record holders (Lorenz Hermann: 800m & Mile, and Kelsey Swenson: 5,000m, and the Men’s Distance Medley Relay). UI’s women’s cross country team also finished second at the Big Sky Conference Cross Country Championships in 2019 and 2022.
Why Sam continues to return to Steens Mountain Running Camp each summer:
As a young and talented runner, my relationship with running was initially very results-oriented. However, after my first year of camp at 15 years old, Steens helped me to develop a meaningful relationship with running in which I truly fell in love with the sport. The shared experiences and lessons from camp have also shaped who I have become not only as a runner, but more importantly as a coach and human. I return each year to reconnect with the Steens community (my second family) and the mountain, to tap into the “magic on the Mountain” and remind myself each year why I love to run. I want to help everyone who attends camp to experience the same gift by helping foster their own passion for running on their journeys to become who they are meant to be.