In partnership between both high school programs, Reed City cross country and track and field hosted their second annual youth running camp.

The event was held at the Reed City High School track facility inside Alumni Field. Over the three days of activities, about 67 kids between kindergarten and fifth grade came through for various instructional sessions and group games. The final day even included a grand finale water shower thanks to the local Reed City Fire Department.

“It was a little bit cooler weather than last year but the kids were all out here running around and getting exercise,” Head cross country coach Rich Saladin said. “We played a lot of fun games and I think they have a good feeling about cross country and track.”

 

 

Within each activity, the school’s high school coaches ran stations with skill building principles that included exciting games to experience with it. Some of these included tag games with course strategy skills, hurdle drills, and overall teamwork.

According to Saladin, the coaches did a great job as well as his own runners helping lead each group through the stations.

“I was most impressed with our runners who became coaches and leaders for groups of kids. They shared their love of running with these little kids and hopefully it continues to grow.”

 

 

This year’s event showed an increase of about 10-15 kids from their first camp in 2022. According to Saladin, this event brings a great amount of exposure to the programs but also to the community as a whole.

“We try to keep it low cost," Saladin said. "We only charged 15 bucks for three days and they got a t-shirt and a water bottle. We're not here to make money. We're just here to make sure our youth have an opportunity to learn about the sport.”

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