It is 6am and here in July at Sub 5 running camp ,and that means everyone has about fifteen minutes to get out of bed and ready to run. I haven’t even opened my eyes yet but I can hear all nine of my cabin mates getting out of their bunks. Why did I decide to go to running camp? Better yet why did I decide to become a runner? It feels like there should be snow on the ground; the cabin is so cold from Sarah cranking the air conditioning all night but I step out of my bunk anyway to get ready. We all slip into our running gear and make our way out to the meeting area for today’s dreadful fourteen mile run. There is not a cloud in the sky and the air smells like a combination of trees, wet grass and sunscreen. Everyone starts to rise out of their drowsy state and accept the fact that it is time for another day full of workouts. Unfortunately no one in my cabin was prepared for what this run would bring us.

Janet the camp director gets out her Brittney Spears microphone and reads which cabins will be going on what run. The groups start to leave and my cabin and I break into groups of two, each one grabbing one bike for the workout. Our plan was to have one girl bike the first seven and then switch off with their partner to run seven miles back. We all decided we would go a relaxed pace and we headed out. I could feel the sun beating down on my shoulders and I regretted not putting on the second layer of sunscreen. I can’t wait to look like a lobster when we get back… The ground was hard beneath my feet and I could feel the heat radiate off the gravel road. You see Sub 5 running camp was not anything like back home in Palatine. The houses were on farms and you could go miles at a time without seeing a single person. The streets were far from flat with hills that were so steep the girls sometimes had to get off their bikes and walk them up the hill, which from the bottom looked so high that if you got to the top you could touch the clouds. What worried me was that it seemed like all the other girls were far in front of my cabin and we didn’t exactly know our way around these roads…

After continuous laughter throughout the first half of the run- mostly coming from Sarah who is by far the loudest of the team- it didn’t seem so bad after all. Now I remember why I love this sport so much. The ten of us have gone about six miles so far and my legs don’t even feel tired. My cabin fills the time with chants and songs which make the miles go by faster. It also distracts us apparently because I have no clue where we are right now. Everywhere I look all I can see is trees, cornfields and steep hills. There is not a person outside our cabin in sight and I can see worry settling into my friends faces. We had to have taken a wrong turn somewhere along the way. There is no way the rest of the group would not have turned around by now and found us if we were on the same route. I try and keep my cool and offer any sort of encouragement I can to my teammates. Even though I know that everyone is thinking about is that we are low on water and have no idea where we are.

“She did say take a left turn when we got to the fork in the road right?” Sarah screamed.

“I thought so, but now I am thinking maybe she said go right at the second fork in the road? I mean everything looks the same” Emma angrily added.


“Well we are only six miles out so far so I say we keep going another mile and then turnaround from there so we can get the fourteen miles in still” Michelle enthusiastically said.

The next mile went by fast and was much quieter than the first five we had done and I assumed it was from being worried. I myself was too I mean I was one of two seniors in this group and if we didn’t find our way back soon the blame would fall on my shoulders for not paying more attention to where I was supposed to lead these girls.

At mile seven we switch off and the girls who were running get to go on the bikes for the whole way back. Thank God because my legs are starting to feel like bricks. We all decide that the best way to handle the situation is to just turn around and try and remember the way we came. The bikers and I go ahead of the runners a little and get excited to ride down the hills. As we go down it feels like being on a roller coaster with a steep drop and the wind surrounds me and guides me down the hill at a fast acceleration that makes me feel like I am flying. Maybe we are lost but flying down these hills beats whatever workout we would be doing back at camp anyway.
“Is it just me or do the girls seem a little quieter? “ I asked.

“They are probably just tired now that they are running instead of biking” Michelle answers.

We are doing excellent on remembering where we came from by recognizing landmarks. Out here the landmarks are a little different from at home because there are no street signs. Instead we are going off of things like “Oh there’s the obnoxious cow so we keep going straight,” and “That’s the naked farmer so we turn right here.” It is situations like this that make me grateful for fences back home. Finally on one turn I can see the Sub 5 camp sign and smiles break out among my cabin and I. We all start to pick the pace up so we can finally get to some water and food. Maybe if we sit down in the cafeteria fast Janet won’t notice and we won’t get in trouble?

We all high five for finishing the fourteen mile run but mostly for finding our way back to camp. Something feels a little off though but I can’t pinpoint what it is. We sit down at our cabin’s table and begin to fill our plates up with brown sugar and oatmeal when Janet comes to find us. Everyone’s faces tense up a little not knowing what to expect. She sits down next to me with a wide smile and asks what happened. We explained that out cabin went out for a little adventure and that we were totally fine. She nods her head clearly excited by the idea of an “adventure,” but then she looks confused.

“Where’s Sarah?” She asks after noticing one empty plate setting.

We all look at each other with wide eyes and I try and think back to the last time on the run I took roll call. Never. Janet is waiting for an answer now and all I can manage is “Whoops.”