The Summit Stinger is a "challenge run" modeled off the American Fork Grind - a tough uphill run that the American Fork XC team does frequently. Recognition is given to those going under challenging time standards.

Our course starts at the bottom of Alpensee Road near the high school. It runs up the road for about ¾ of a mile at a fairly steady 8% or so climb. Then it hits a trail and climbs up towards Ophir Mountain. The last couple hundred meters steepen, hitting over 20%. The Stinger climbs 500 feet over a short but intense 1.2 miles.

I'd been thinking about an inspirational name for our challenge run for some time, without great success. The "Ophir Mountain Crusher, Alpensee Amble" etc. Then, while running on the course with some of our runners I noticed and mentioned that the finish had a sting to it as it steepened. Liking alliteration, "Summit Stinger" came to mind and the decision was made.

We will do the Summit Stinger frequently during summer training and XC season. The Summit Stinger Honor Role will be updated after each effort and posted here and on the XC bulletin board in SHS.

Here's the report from the first effort on 2022/7/28:

I was so impressed with your performances today. The Summit Stinger is definitely a hard challenge. You tackled it with grit and positivity.

Our core group of runners have trained so well this summer. You are definitely amongst the hardest training teams in the State. Your hard work will be attracting a lot of positive notice this Fall!

This is just a start and we will add many more names and faster times over the rest of this season and in future years. I was thinking the Sub-11 Club would be very elite for the boys. I didn't expect that we may have to have a Sub-9 club, soon! For the girls I thought Sub-14 would be a very select group. It's incredible that we already have a Sub-10 club and I'm sure will have Sub-11, 12 and 13 clubs filling soon.

Consistency is Key!