WHITE PASS — Washington high school runners won't see any courses this fall as challenging as the two-mile climb from the base to Pigtail Peak at Clear Lake/White Pass Cross Country Camp.
The grueling climb of roughly 1,500 feet up service roads and through a meadow under Chair 4 offers a test of strength, stamina and intelligence at the Northwest's oldest and biggest cross country camp. Experience provides an advantage for runners who know when to push themselves or when to conserve energy by hiking up the steep grades, occasionally over loose rocks.
Reaching the finish line next to the top of the Great White Express brings an intense feeling of accomplishment and the best views of Mount Rainier at the Sunday-Friday camp dedicated to building camaraderie and teaching runners how to better understand the sport. Eisenhower coach and longtime director Phil English returned for the camp's 50th year this summer, featuring three separate weeks in July with about 20 counselors at each one.
"When you think of, 'OK, I'm going to a cross country camp', you're thinking 'OK, we're going to be running 12 hours a day,'" said English, who took over the camp founded in 1974 by the late Art Hutton, a veteran college and prep coach in the Yakima area. "But of course that's not possible, so we incorporate a lot of other aspects to it as well."
Registration generally fills up within 10 hours for the first week and English said two years ago, the website crashed from so many runners trying to sign up. Each camp can host 144 runners, who are then divided into 12 groups of 12 to go through activities together and compete in various competitions.
Ellensburg's Kate Laurent, a two-time top five finisher at the 2A state cross country championships, said the supportive atmosphere at White Pass makes it something she looks forward to attending every summer. The Oregon State soon-to-be junior attended the camp three times in high school — it wasn't held in 2020 due to the pandemic — and returned this month for her second year as a counselor.
"There's a lot of groups for everybody and there's even some people that are dealing with injuries but they still come because they're like, 'we love the games, we love the people, we still want to be a part of it,'" said Laurent, who ran at the NCAA championships for OSU her freshman season. "I feel like everybody, we all have a place to be."
Embracing all levels
Whether someone's new to running or a state champion, everyone's welcome at White Pass.
Morning laps around Leech Lake allow for some differences in mileage, depending on how much a runner can handle. The mountain run features a "walk with a purpose" option as well as a "run/walk" group before the Queen and King of the Mountain groups begin their ascent, which coaches recommend should be actual running for about three-quarters of the climb.
Other times, though, everyone runs similar distances and competes against each other, including at Tuesday's Ekiden Relays with each runner taking two of the approximately 500-meter legs. Boys and girls races on a 2.4-mile course end the week on Friday morning, the results of which end up on the camp's website.
Ellensburg's June Nemrow and Adrienne Herion love the benefits they gain from running at altitude, which Herion said helps her endurance a lot. Unique terrain offers better opportunities to implement what they learn in drills and this month's hotter-than-usual weather only added to the challenge.
"The hills are definitely a lot steeper than most of our workouts, but they teach us technique and we get to practice on those hills," said Nemrow, one of eight Ellensburg girls runners at the first week of camp along with their longtime coach and counselor, Jeff Hashimoto.
"They make you so much stronger, though," Herion added.
Each group also spends about 90 minutes at some point during the week on video analysis, providing what English said for some kids is the first chance to see themselves running. Laurent recalled learning how to correct her overstriding while in high school, and English said everyone benefits from seeing how they can improve their mechanics.
New technology offers an opportunity during that same period for runners to accurately test their hemoglobin samples without needing to give a blood sample. English said they've found many campers are severely anemic and completely unaware of it, so they're able to talk to their parents and go see a physician when they return home.
One or two lectures each day provide even more insight into how to become a great runner, such as longtime college coach Al Bonney's discussion of how his most successful runners thrived despite considerably different training plans. Hashimoto and accomplished Sehome coach Kevin Ryan — a camper from 1987-89 — drove home Bonney's point in a presentation they've simplified over the years, emphasizing the importance of easy runs and recovery along with more difficult tempo runs and interval workouts.
More than running
Each full day at White Pass includes a "quiet hour" when English and other coaches encourage kids to nap, since they're expending so much more energy than usual throughout the day.
Their schedules include all sorts of non-running activities to build camaraderie, creating a supportive atmosphere full of lighthearted banter to balance out the serious running discussions. Campers at the first week this summer represented 18 different high schools and they separated into groups to discuss their team goals for the fall before Wednesday morning's mountain run, but the groups they stay in for the most part are designed to force runners from different teams to socialize as much as possible as they compete in activities such as four-square, volleyball, food-eating contests and trivia.
A few years ago English replaced the annual pool party with a karaoke lip-synch competition, and to his surprise it became one of the most popular, valuable ways to develop teamwork skills. Serious practices are held for an hour each of the first three evenings, allowing opportunities for individuals to step forward and lead choreography while counselors look on or give suggestions.
Runners at the first week of camp this month selected an eclectic mix of songs including "Sweet Caroline", "Party in the USA", "All I Want for Christmas is You", "Hooked on a Feeling" and "Call Me Maybe". English, Ryan and Cedarcrest coach Bruce McDowell, who's been at the camp for nearly four decades, all serve as judges for the final performances.
"Lip-synch contest is a contact sport," English said. "I'm the Simon Cowell of the evaluation. My marks will be typically low, but it's the early years of Simon Cowell, not the new version."
Keeping it going
Cross country's a sport accessible to anyone with a decent pair of running shoes, and Ryan said English works hard to keep that same inclusiveness for his camp by holding costs down any way he can.
An equipment sponsor provides critical contributions and organizers work with White Pass food services and Village Inn to maintain affordable prices. English said it's essential the camp's available to more than just affluent runners.
It's still far cheaper than other similar camps, but English acknowledged costs have risen noticeably to $750 for one week. That's a result of several factors, notably skyrocketing food prices and unfriendly rental rates from condo owners, who are required by the US Forest Service to make their condos available for rent if they're not there.
"That's been an ongoing battle," English said. "The owners, they don't have to rent them at cost, so for us to stay viable here it's a numbers game."
When asked about a timeline for retirement or who might take over when he steps down, English laughed and said he's taking the camp year-by-year, noting a lot of other coaches have long been heavily involved. English's wife, Darcy, serves as the camp registrar, handling most of the duties during the school year, when English is coaching and teaching.
It's hardly a stretch to say the camp feels irreplaceable for the coaches, counselors and runners like South Whidbey's Rowan Jung, who finished 16th as a junior at the 1A cross country championships last season. In his third summer at White Pass, he passed Sehome's Skyler Gillham — the 10th place finisher at last fall's 2A championship — to win the King of the Mountain run in less than 21 minutes, and he's looking forward to seeing all the new friends he's made at races this fall.
"It's honestly my favorite event of the summer," Jung said. "It's really fun, it's really memorable and it's a great way to bond with your team."
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