CROSS COUNTRY CAMP 2025!

Cross Country Camp 2025 has started! Each day I will update about the previous day's adventures. Happy reading!

DAY 1: MONDAY AUGUST 4

We all met at Crozet Park at 9am to load up the vehicles. We have plenty of space this year as we have several drivers and I rented a U-Haul! The girls still packed pretty light--I was impressed!  After a quick safety meeting with our drivers and farewells to the families, we were on our way!  We drove about 35 minutes to our first stop: Mr. J's Bagels and Wal-Mart. We had a great breakfast / lunch of bagels at Mr. J's (a Harrisonburg staple for at least 25 years) and then crossed the road to run wild in the Wal-Mart for a while! The girls bought oversized, ridiculous matching T-Shirts, lots of very healthy food (Finleight might have been the winner on that front!), and some very practical items like LOL Balls (I think Hannah needs to explain this a little better to me).  

The music of choice for several vehicles on the drive over seemed to be the soundtrack to a movie called "K-Pop Demon Killers". I fear a viewing of said movie is in my future. At least in my car, after a rather interesting first song choice (Mattie: what WAS THAT?), Hannah surprised me by also loving Peter, Paul, and Mary! My faith in the future was restored. :)

The girls decorated all of the vehicles with car paint in the parking lot of Wal-Mart. Emerson's car has a Disney theme, and all of the rest have some variation of "Honk if you love __________" and "For a good time call: __________" (usually followed by a phone number of one of the boys on the cross country team!).  

After the Wal-Mart stop, we continued on through Broadway, Virginia and finally off of Interstate 81 (phew!). We got on a beautiful smaller road (about the size of 250) that winds along the bottom of a gorgeous valley for about 40 miles. We stopped briefly at a gas station after bout 40 minutes, at which the girls bought more very healthy food. At the end of the valley we got on what I call the "Super Highway". Interstate 48 is newish, big, under-used, and absolutely stunning the whole way. There are sweeping mountain views, very few cars, and nice, easy driving all the way to  Davis. We stopped for a quick leg-stretcher at an overlook about 1/2 way along this road. 

After about another 35 minutes, we drove through the tiny town of Davis, West Virginia, and another 10 miles to our house in Old Timberline. We spent the next hour or so checking out the house, "unpacking" (for most of the girls, that seemed to entail putting their suitcase on the floor and rummaging through it), checking out the house, and getting a snack. Our house is wonderful: it is set in the edge of the woods under some big trees, so there is a lot of shade. It overlooks a big field full of wild flowers with a lake in it, and the background is a sweeping view of the mountains looking up to the Dolly Sods area. The house has two parts: the Main House and the Carriage House, so there is plenty of room to spread out. The kitchen is connected to the dining room and living room, so it is perfect for hanging out as a group. There is also a large wooden deck with a picnic table, hot tub, and several big old wooden chairs. There is also a flat, grassy, 1.25 mile path that goes from our back doorstep all the way around the lake. Ideal location, to say the least!

At 4:30 we gathered for our first run of Camp! This first run is often a mixed bag: the altitude can really affect some people, doesn't seem to touch others, and there often isn't any indication as to why for either. All of the 14 girls had a very good first run, though, this year. A few were affected by the altitude, and just slowed down their pace, which is the trick for the first two days until you get more acclimated. The top mileage girls did a solid 7 miles yesterday, the first part of which they were "chasing" me around the Lower Lake Loop as nobody was certain of the directions. Everyone, even those affected by the altitude, kept up a solid pace. Those that came to camp last year were able to compare their first run from last year to their run yesterday and saw a huge improvement. I could not be more happy about our first run here at Camp!

After dinner I took my nightly walk around the lake while the girls cleaned up, made bracelets, hung out on the deck, and watched Frozen 2.  While we do a lot of organized activities at Camp (runs, crafts, excursions,  I also give the girls a lot of unstructured time so that they can bond, relax, laugh, etc. Everything we do here makes a stronger team--one with a deep bond whose members will support each other throughout the upcoming season. I can't wait to see what today, Tuesday, brings here at Camp! Now it is about 7:45am so I have to go wake up the crew for their morning recovery run...until tomorrow!

DAY 2: Tuesday, August 5

Tuesday dawned clear and cool, a perfect day for a recovery run! I got the girls up at 8am, using my normal method of blasting the most obnoxious music I could come up with (in this case, music from the aforementioned "K-Pop Demon Hunters" movie, which I have not  had the pleasure of watching yet...

Our recovery run went well! We focused on the idea of  "easy days easy, hard days hard". The day before had been hard--everyone pushed the pace despite the altitude, long car ride,  and questionable snack choices.  Today was the day for recovery, which means running about 30 seconds per mile slower than your distance day pace.  After the run we did abs, bands, and stretching on the back deck.

After the run our Servants of the Day, Finleigh, SJ, and Lauren, made a delicious breakfast of pancakes, homemade muffins, and fruit. Then it was time for our first craft: decorating running logs! This group is particularly artistic and crafty...the logs turned out beautifully!

After some down time, we drove up to the top of the mountain to take some pictures and try to do a little leg-stretcher of a hike. Unfortunately, the Canaan Valley Resort chair lift is closed for repairs for the whole season!  We had a great view and took our class pictures in our Wal-Mart shirts, and then attempted to take a short hike along the top of the ridge. Well, it was very overgrown, and we are pretty sure we were walking through poison ivy at various points, so we turned around after about 10 minutes...

After the long water / soap fight, the house was quiet for a while as girls rested, napped, and made bracelets. Around 4:30 I noticed that Finleigh was alone in the kitchen, listening to country music, chopping onions, and crying steadily (from the onions!) She prepped the dinner for a couple of hours, and said that was her way of relaxing. Meanwhile, some other girls broke out the cornhole set and played a cut-throat game, which I believe Lauren won.

Dinner was truly fantastic! The whole theme was "kabobs". There was pre-cooked, delicious chicken, and the girls grilled fresh vegetables and also made fruit kabobs. The grill was a little tricky to get lit, and only half of it seems to be working, but that didn't seem to bother SJ and Lauren. Everyone loved the meal! For dessert, SJ made 4 dozen (or more) homemade chocolate chip cookies. What a feast!

In an effort to stay organized, I always make a couple of big lists of what we might do each day. This year I also made a "dishwashing flow chart" that is actually working!

The day ended with a beautiful sunset. The girls turned in early as this morning is our Tempo Run. They were a bit disappointed that I did not let them visit the boy's house--but there is plenty of time for that later on. 

Parents: please check your email and fill out the Rafting Waiver on-line...the company has gone paperless. Thank you! Until tomorrow...

DAY 3: Wednesday, August 6

The main event for our third day at Camp was our annual 1.5 mile Tempo Run. The course is always the same, although this year I had to move the starting line back about .2 of a mile due to construction at the finish area. The girls warm up from the house to the starting line, stretch, do drills, strides, and their first cheer (called "Dogface", which they nailed on the first try this year ). The course is 1.5 miles of rolling road, with one hill right in the middle, and a nice downhill finish. The Tempo Run is always somewhat of a shock to the system as it is the first sustained all out effort the girls do for the season. This year we did a little more prep in the few weeks leading up to Camp with some 2 and 3 minute intervals, but the Tempo Run remains the first truly hard run they do. 

Before the Tempo Run, the girls "tatted up". Some opted for a discreet, small tattoo, while others (RUBY and ZOEY!) went all out. This is a fun little ritual we have to get them in the "racing" spirit and lighten the tense mood. 

This group rose to the Tempo Run challenge! The top 3 (Emerson, Zoey, and Leanne) finished under 9 (8:55), joining a handful of others over the years to have broken that barrier. There were other notable runs, including Maddie in a fast 9:24! We had a large group in the 10 minute range, and a smaller group just barely over 11 minutes. For the first time in a long while, nobody hit the 12 minute mark.  Most girls improved quite a bit from the previous year as well. Great job!

After the run we did some quick group pictures, including our first of many "Jump" photos of the season. This one was hard because the girls were so tired and drained from their race. But the results were pretty good overall!

After the Tempo Run our Servants of the Day (Daisy and Zoey) got to work on a great breakfast, which I think was yogurt and fruit, but I had headed off on my long trail run by that point. When I got back the girls were clustered in the Carriage House resting and watching The Summer I Turned Pretty. 

In the afternoon we set to work on our second big craft of Camp: decorating Spike Bags. There was considerably less angst for this craft overall, I must say.

After Spike Bags, a crew decided to go into "town" (Davis) to go to the grocery store, dollar store, and get ice cream! A trip to the Shop and Save (which Mattie Webb renamed the "Stop and Shave" about 15 years ago) is always an adventure. We will have at least 2 carts going up and down the aisles, girls running everywhere searching for stuff, and a few girls just wandering aimlessly looking lost. The Dollar Store is also a funny stop--Emerson and Leanne picked out prizes for various competitions while the rest of them loaded up on more healthy food. 

We then dumped our purchases in the two vehicles and walked 2 blocks (Zoey misheard me and thought I said "2 miles" and was wondering if the ice cream was worth it!). Davis has a great ice cream shop, and we all enjoyed our hard-earned treat!

Back at the house we had a little quiet time. Some of the girls napped (always a great idea), others sat on the deck under blankets until it got too cold, and some soaked in the hot tub.

Soon, our Servants of the Day started prepping dinner. They made a fantastic "make your own quesadilla" bar accompanied by a salad. Everybody made their own quesadilla and then the servants heated them up using 3 skillets on the stovetop, an electric skillet, and an electric griddle. It was quite the process, super fun, and really delicious!

My parents, John and Jan Redick, and their standard poodle, Libby, visited us for dinner again this year! They have been coming to this area for decades (I grew up spending many days with them hiking and cross country skiing in this area), and for the past few years their summer cabin trip to Blackwater Falls State Park has overlapped with our week of Camp. It is always great to see them, and they love seeing the "controlled chaos" of Camp. Thanks for the visit and the cupcakes, Mom and Dad!

After dinner the girls debated for a long time on which scary movie to watch, and settled on what ended up being a somewhat lackluster one called Heritage? Inheritance? (I can't remember). But it did have the girls screaming, huddled under blankets, and asking for all of the lights to remain on for the indefinite future!

DAY 4: Thursday, August 7

Another beautiful Canaan Valley morning greeted us yesterday, although it was quite chilly! I got the girls up at the normal time (8am), and they got ready to do their "Buddy Run". For the Buddy Run, each upperclass girl draws the name of an underclassman, and then just the two of them must do their recovery run together, talking about certain topics. The run yesterday was to be our easiest, most relaxing recovery run of the week, and I told them they should be able to have the conversation fairly easily, and if not, to moderate their pace. I also set them off in different directions to make it so they wouldn't clump up. After their run, they did some abs and stretching before breakfast. Our Servants of the Day,  Hadley and Abbie, made a great breakfast of waffles, eggs, and fruit.

After breakfast we all got ready to drive to Parsons to Blackwater Outdoor Adventures for our canoe trip! We chose the 4 mile trip, which ended up taking us just about 2 hours. When we got there we loaded up into two vans and drove upriver.  The first 100 yards of the river trip were really shallow, but after that two branches of the river came together and there was plenty of water. The section of the river we were on was the perfect mixture of long stretches of flat water interrupted now and then by small class 1 rapids (just enough to keep things interesting).

Canoeing was a fun choice of alternatives to white water rafting this year. Many of the girls had never been canoeing, and there were different levels of ability.  Everyone seemed to improve over the course of the trip. Take Emereson and Ruby, for example. For the first half of the trip, they could not paddle in a straight line--they zig-zagged back and forth across the river, and went down every rapids sideways, backwards, or got stuck in the middle. But, by the end of the trip they had figured it out (for the most part)!

I decided to spice the trip up a bit with a series of races. This turned out to be truly hilarious! The first race was the "Sprint". I paddled ahead a bit and they all lined up their canoes facing downstream. The only rule was whoever passed my canoe first was the winner. When I yelled "Go!" bedlam erupted! There was a seething mass of canoes all trying to impede the others from getting going. Finally, one canoe broke free and started paddling for their lives: Finleigh and Hadley were the winners of the Sprint Race!

Our second race was the Distance Race. The start was chaotic again, but soon there were two front running boats: Anja and Abbie,  and Leanne and Hannah. They fought it out while the others sabotaged each other in the background and Ruby and Emerson paddled the wrong way across the river.  The two lead boats were neck and neck until Leanne and Hannah pulled out the win by the nose of their boat! Meanwhile, the end result of the fighting in the background was our first capsized boat of the day: Maddie and Cameron (against whom Finleigh has sworn to get eternal revenge for holding her boat back).  Perhaps the best part of my day was watching Cam trying to get back into her canoe with Maddie as the "counter-weight" to keep it from tipping over (again). 

When we could see our take-out point, we had our last race of the day: The Backwards Sprint. The only rule was the boat had to travel backwards the whole time. This race was not as tight as the first two--there was a pretty clear front runner from the start: Emerson and Ruby! I guess I should not be surprised as they had spent the first half of the trip going backwards at least half of the time. 

After the epic canoe trip, we headed to McDonalds for food on the way back, and then stopped at the Stop and Shave and  Dollar Store. Back at the house we had a little down time until Hadley and Abbie made us a yummy dinner of pasta, garlic bread, and salad.

After dinner we had our first Awards Ceremony of the week. Here are the honorees:

Tempo Run:

Closest Prediction Time: Ruby! (she was only 2 seconds of). Honorable mentions were Daisy and Emerson.

Most Improved: Zoey! She improved 57 seconds from last year. Honorable mentions were Daisy and Lauren.

Running Log Decorating: First Prize: Abbie!  Second Prize: Hannah!

Canoe Competitions:

Sprint Race: Hadley and Finleigh

Distance Race: Leanne and Hannah

Backwards Race: Emerson and Ruby

After the Awards Ceremony, they watched The Notebook and made a "Hear Me Out" Cake. 

Day 5: Friday, August 8

Friday dawned cool and crisp, like every previous morning here at Camp.  It was the day of our Long Run, and it could not have been better weather--low 60s and no humidity. I got the girls up a little earlier than usual (at 7:30) because we had to drive to our "Destination Run" location. 

For the past 3 years we have done a downhill 8 mile single-track trail run that goes all the way down the Blackwater Canyon from Thomas to Hendricks. It is a fantastic run and the trail, while narrow, has good footing and is well-maintained.  This year I opted to do something different for a few reasons. First, two of the three years we have done it a girl has tripped and fallen on the trail. Luckily, neither of them was too hurt, just scraped and banged up. HOWEVER, there is nothing to do but either go back up or keep going--there is absolutely no exit out of the canyon once you enter. No side trails, no roads, and no cell coverage. Another reason we didn't do the downhill run this year is that we have several girls that have aches and pains, and 8 miles downhill is the last thing they needed to help them heal. All of that said, I wanted the girls to run on flatter ground and somewhere different than the roads around our house, so we drove to Parsons to Mill Race Park, which has access to the Allegheny Highlands Rail Trail. This trail runs about 30 miles from Hendricks to Elkins, and passes through a few little towns on the way.  It runs along the river for a long time and is very pretty, and flat. 

The girls ran great! Most of them ran their fastest pace long run in a while--and everyone was in great spirits at the end! Anja LaF actually PRed in the 5k--in the last 3 miles of her 8 mile run! After a few minutes on the playground, we made another stop at McDonalds. We then drove back up the canyon to Thomas, taking pictures at an overlook on the way. It seems we never leave home without a Stop and Shave run, so we did that too! 

Back at the house (around noon) there was a palpable tense excitement in the air that could only mean one thing: THE BOYS WERE COMING OVER LATER FOR THE COOKOUT! Showers were taken, outfits planned (and matched), and, most importantly, the house was cleaned! Our wonderful house gets very lived in feeling by this time at Camp, so a good cleaning was in order anyway. Everyone pitched in to clean the main house, and most also picked up their own bedrooms too. 

There is a small room in the back of the Main House that has two twin beds, that is usually reserved for first-timers at Camp, or the youngest. This year our two freshmen are sharing it (Maddie and Ruby). I've really never seen a room like it in terms of clothes and stuff everywhere (except maybe Averi Witt's room back in the day).  They actually cleaned it though! Below are some of the "after" pictures, so you can only imagine what it looked like before. 

After cleaning the house we had our Goals Team Meeting. We all got together in the living room and each girl talked about their individual 5k goal and then their overall goal for the team. There were a lot of wonderful goals set! I'm really excited about what these girls can accomplish this season if they push themselves and each other. At the end, Anja reminded everyone of an important fact: "Running is a Gift"--and that, even though it is hard, what we do is truly amazing and should never be taken for granted. She spoke eloquently and from the heart, and brought tears to our eyes (Lauren had to run out of the room for a minute). We sure will miss our wonderful graduates! 

After our meeting, we embarked on our Craft of the Day: PILLOW MAKING! We made small team-colored fleece pillows with the idea that they can be crammed into our XC bags for bus-rides, waiting at meets, etc. The craft involves cutting, tying, and stuffing, and a few girls opted to sew on their initials. 

The time for the cookout was approaching, and the girls had two more tasks to accomplish: SJ had to bake cookies (it took her at least  an hour and a half) and they had to draw their yearly poster of the boy's team. This involved much laughter as they discussed how to portray each guy.  They also waited in the driveway to greet the guys. Those guys don't know how lucky they are!

The Cookout was fantastic! The weather was chilly but nice--they all played cornhole, bocce, badminton, spike ball, and a group of guys grilled hamburgers and hotdogs. Once it got dark, they all came into the living room and watched something strange on TV and talked. It was MUCH LESS AWKWARD than in past years! 

The boys left around 10pm and the girls finally got to do their Hear Me Out Cake. Parents, please ask your daughters to explain this phenomenon--I'm still a bit fuzzy on the details.  From what I gather, each girl picks 2 unlikely things and/ or people that they find "crush-worthy" and then must defend their choices by saying "Hear me out...".  One can be a random thing/ cartoon character, and then other has to be a real person. I went to bed before the process started, but I had chosen my two candidates earlier: Toothless from How to Train your Dragon and Spock from the original Star Trek series. I'm quite glad I went to bed before having to explain THAT  to the girls. Below is a picture of the finished cake...

That wrapped up our Friday! Below are some random extra pictures from the day. Until tomorrow...

Day 6: Saturday, August 9

Today was a very down day--It was a day off physically and mentally! We started the day by having Leanne and Anja set up the Scavenger Hunt around the lake in front of our house. They spent almost 2 hours hiding clothes, stuffed animals, candy, and other strange items for the girls to find. Meanwhile, back at the house, Emerson and Zoey made a chocolate cake for Leanne's 18th Birthday!

We got the girls up and surprised Leanne by leading her into the house blindfolded, revealing the "Cross Country Course Cake" (the girls had to improvise when the cake got stuck in the pan!) and singing her Happy Birthday! 

The annual Scavenger Hunt is a riot--the girls are broken into 3 teams and have about 45 minutes to find as much stuff as they can. The only rule is that they have to wear  anything tha can be worn, and they have to be back in time or risk losing points. The grand prize is Baby Katie, a truly terrifying doll that is always very well hidden. This year the badge-of-honor for finding Baby Katie went to Zoey! 

The rest of the day was spent hanging out in the sun on our nicest day of the trip so far! The boys came over for the afternoon and there were lots of lawn games and Telestrations. Some girls napped, Hannah made incredible cookies, and we started tie-dye. A few of the younger girls learned a valuable safety lesson near the end of the day, and our Servants of the Day, Hannah, Ruby, and Cam, made an excellent dinner of make-your-own baked potato bar. 

Today, our last day at Camp, will see the girls doing the Mountain Run this morning, followed by crafts, cleaning, creating the team dance, and going into Davis for pizza and ice-cream to round out the day!