What Makes Elevate Mountain Running Camp so Epically Awesome?
Energetic. Wholistic. Gritty. Positive. Open. Balance
Elevate Mountain Running Camp focuses on the heart and soul of an athlete. During our time together, we will explore the mountains in a way that stretches our limits and translates running into our life endeavors.
We will create a mountain top experience for all by meeting athletes right where they are in fitness and background. Our coaches will tailor the mountain runs to help athletes acclimatize to the altitude, recover, and be their strongest each day. We will also weave sports nutrition into each day so that athletes can experience the immediate benefits of feeling better and performing better.
Our vision is to embrace the challenges of mountain running and fall in love with the sport with a greater perspective. The mountains will help us to change our pace, breathe a bit deeper, and then hold onto those experiences in life itself. We will chase excellence, in a way that is not just measured by physical outcome, but rather by helping each other do things they never thought possible.
Our wonderful team of Coaches Lisa Renee, Jeremy, Alicia, Chris, and Kelly are experts at fostering an amazing community of like-minded individuals who share a passion for the outdoors and youth.
Our coaches will share their expertise, energy, and life experiences so we can all dream a bit bigger when we depart.
What's Included
Beyond some of the goals, we realize you are curious about the specific details of the camp itself!
Check out the list to the right - if you still have any questions that aren't answered here or the FAQ at the bottom of page- please send us an email.
The Itinerary Breakdown
Elevate Mountain Running Camps is a 5 day/4 night performance running camp where each day we strive to learn a little bit more about ourselves.
// Day 1
Welcome, Dynamic warm-up, Shake out
Your adventure begins! Arrive in Columbine, Colorado to the cabins for a 3 pm check-in. You will meet other Elevate athletes and coaches. You will have the opportunity to check into your cabin and meet your bunkmates for the upcoming week, before rolling out the door for our first run.
Amazing trails are just minutes away. With stunning views of the Zirkel Wilderness, these out and back trail rolls through aspen groves, across rivers, and have gentle rolling terrain. These trails trails are designed to be great shake-out runs, after a day of travel. Once back at base camp in Columbine, you will enjoy a welcome dinner, some campfire games, and easy relaxation to get to know each other and share goals for camp.
// Day 2
Sports Nutrition, Mental Toughness, Goals
Today begins with a relaxing and nutritious breakfast, with views of Hahns Peak. Hahns Peak was once an active volcano, having an elevation of 10, 839, and 360-degree Panoramic views. Our run will depart from our base camp at Columbine, with a mellow climb on a Jeep road, which gets steeper as you approach the single track and push over a talus slope toward the summit. Although a vertical challenge, you are rewarded with STUNNING views of Clark, Steamboat, and even Wyoming. You’ll take in the views, pose for an awesome “jump shot” and get ready for the vertical descent. Steamboat Lake is next up where we will enjoy an afternoon of paddle boarding, kayaking, and swimming. Back at base camp, we will have a campfire meal together. Topics for today include sports nutrition and mental toughness.
// Day 3
Pool Running, Breath & Posture, Recovery Yoga
Today begins with an early breakfast and then a beautiful drive towards Steamboat Springs for a spectacular run on Buff Pass and Flash of Gold. This single-track trail is known for its aspen groves, easy switchbacks, steady climbing, and breathtaking vistas. It is also a favorite for our Elevate alumni athletes. When we finish, we will go to the Old Town Hot Springs for a pool running session and soak, followed by a picnic lunch, then free time to explore downtown and the mountain. We will meet that afternoon in a riverside park for a session on mobility, breath/posture, cross-training, and recovery yoga. After an athlete dinner in town and a full day in Steamboat Springs, an evening at basecamp will be a great way to close the day. Athletes can enjoy the sauna, the campfire, and the camaraderie of new friends.
// Day 4
Grit, Form, Adventure
You’ll be heading towards the wilderness today, closer to base camp in North Routt. A shorter journey to the trailhead to begin your run on the Zirkel Circle towards Gilpin Lake. This wilderness run climbs through aspen groves, over rivers and streams, to a pristine lake and stunning views. This will be a mountain-top experience for sure and a picture-perfect setting. As a recovery today we’ll hop back in the car and head to Pearl Lake close to basecamp. You’ll have the afternoon to spend time with fellow athletes eating lunch, kayaking, paddle boarding, swimming, and having fun! We will have a feature presentation with an explorer and mountaineer that evening, with athlete awards and raffle prizes, s’mores, and an amazing evening together.
// Day 5
Balance, Measuring Success, Wrap Up
Today you’ll be checking out of the Cabins in Columbine after breakfast. But camp isn’t over yet! You will travel to Steamboat for a final (and epic!) run on Fish Creek Falls. This is a steeper climb towards the Continental Divide and Wyoming Trail. Today, athletes have the opportunity to run or hike, with the reward of stunning water falls along the way. After finishing, we will gather for a trail lunch, group photos, and closing remarks! You’ve done it! Congratulations! There’s no doubt you’ll leave with stories to last a lifetime as well as some new friendships, too.
// Day 1
Welcome, Dynamic warm-up, Shake out
Your adventure begins! Arrive in Columbine, Colorado to the cabins for a 3 pm check-in. You will meet other Elevate athletes and coaches. You will have the opportunity to check into your cabin and meet your bunkmates for the upcoming week, before rolling out the door for our first run.
The amazing South Fork trail is minutes away. With stunning views of the Zirkel Wilderness, this out-and-back trail rolls through aspen groves, across a river, and has some gentle rolling terrain. This trail was a favorite for many of our 2022 Elevate athletes and a great shake-out run, after a day of travel. Once back at base camp in Columbine, you will enjoy a welcome dinner, some campfire games, and easy relaxation to get to know each other and share goals for camp.
// Day 2
Sports Nutrition, Mental Toughness, Goals
Today begins with a relaxing and nutritious breakfast, with views of your mountain for the day. Hahns Peak was once an active volcano, having an elevation of 10, 839, and 360-degree Panoramic views. Our run will depart from our base camp at Columbine, with a mellow climb on a Jeep road, which gets steeper as you approach the single track and push over a talus slope toward the summit. Although a vertical challenge, you are rewarded with STUNNING views of Clark, Steamboat, and even Wyoming. You’ll take in the views, pose for an awesome “jump shot” and get ready for the vertical descent. Steamboat Lake is next up where we will enjoy an afternoon of paddle boarding, kayaking, and swimming. Back at base camp, we will have a campfire meal together. Topics for today include sports nutrition and mental toughness.
// Day 3
Pool Running, Breath & Posture, Recovery Yoga
Today begins with an early breakfast and then a beautiful drive towards Steamboat Springs for a spectacular run on Buff Pass and Flash of Gold. This single-track trail is known for its aspen groves, easy switchbacks, steady climbing, and breathtaking vistas. It is also a favorite for our Elevate alumni athletes. When we finish, we will go to the Old Town Hot Springs for a pool running session and soak, followed by a picnic lunch, then free time to explore downtown and the mountain. We will meet that afternoon in a riverside park for a session on mobility, breath/posture, cross-training, and recovery yoga. After an athlete dinner in town and a full day in Steamboat Springs, an evening at basecamp will be a great way to close the day. Athletes can enjoy the sauna, the campfire, and the camaraderie of new friends.
// Day 4
Grit, Form, Adventure
You’ll be heading towards the wilderness today, closer to base camp in North Routt. A shorter journey to the trailhead to begin your run on the Zirkel Circle towards Gilpin Lake. This wilderness run climbs through aspen groves, over rivers and streams, to a pristine lake and stunning views. This will be a mountain-top experience for sure and a picture-perfect setting. As a recovery today we’ll hop back in the car and head to Pearl Lake close to basecamp. You’ll have the afternoon to spend time with fellow athletes eating lunch, kayaking, paddle boarding, swimming, and having fun! We will have a feature presentation with an explorer and mountaineer that evening, with athlete awards and raffle prizes, s’mores, and an amazing evening together.
// Day 5
Balance, Measuring Success, Wrap Up
Today you’ll be checking out of the Cabins in Columbine after breakfast. But camp isn’t over yet! You will travel to Steamboat for a final (and epic!) run on Fish Creek Falls. This is a steeper climb towards the Continental Divide and Wyoming Trail. Today, athletes have the opportunity to run or hike, with the reward of stunning water falls along the way. After finishing, we will gather for a trail lunch, group photos, and closing remarks! You’ve done it! Congratulations! There’s no doubt you’ll leave with stories to last a lifetime as well as some new friendships, too.
Maps, Runs, Details & More
Routt County, Colorado is well known for its outdoor recreation destination. With hundreds of miles of hiking, biking, skiing, and of course - RUNNING TRAILS!
With access to an unprecedented amount of recreation areas, state parks and national forest land, Elevated Mountain Running Camp takes full advantage of the beautiful surrounding terrain!
Check out the map on the right for a general overview of all the places you'll see and visit during camp.
And - for those who love the nitty-gritty details - click on each of the locations below to get all the details about the runs!
Southfork
Click the map icon for the full Elevation Profile, Photos, Review of the Trail and more!
Hahns Peak Trail Profile
Click the map icon for the full Elevation Profile, Photos, Review of the Trail and more!
Mt Zirkel
Click the map icon for the full Elevation Profile, Photos, Review of the Trail and more!
Flash of Gold
Click the map icon for the full Elevation Profile, Photos, Review of the Trail and more!
Fish Creek Falls
Click the map icon for the full Elevation Profile, Photos, Review of the Trail and more!
Where You'll Stay
Here's a taste of where you will be staying during camp. We picked the Historic Columbine Cabins because of their true charm and location near the Hahns Peak trail.
This camp features an impressive lodge and modern shower house, an inviting wood-fired sauna, an authentic General Store, and plenty of tall tales to share around the campfire.
About the Cabins
Elevate Mountain Running camp has rented all 14 rustic log cabins, nestled among the aspens in the historic mining town of Columbine. The “town” of Columbine has a lodge, kitchens, a modern shower house, a wood-fired sauna, and a General Store.
Cabins are arranged with roommate requests in mind. We will unplug for a few days from TVs, WiFi, and limited cell service. We think this is such a wonderful asset to the cabins as it allows the athletes and coaches to genuinely get to know each other and build memories in this beautiful location.
That said, we will be traveling in and out of Clark and Steamboat Springs throughout our camp days, so athletes are able to connect with family and friends.
About the Cabins
Cabins are arranged with roommate requests in mind. We will unplug for a few days from TVs, WiFi, and limited cell service. We think this is such a wonderful asset to the cabins as it allows the athletes and coaches to genuinely get to know each other and build memories in this beautiful location.
That said, we will be traveling in and out of Clark and Steamboat Springs throughout our camp days, so athletes are able to connect with family and friends.
What our Past Athletes Say
Outdoors, friendship and fun, we are experts at fostering a positive, inspiring community that our athletes treasure for years to come!
“The best experience we ever had”
“I’ve been on the team the past two years, it’s really grown to be sort of my family and I try to get every chance I can just to be with them. This camp is a great way to keep being with them throughout the year and through the summer,”
“One of a kind experience”
“I loved all the dinners and lake afternoons. Flash of Gold was amazing! It was truly an incredible experience and I enjoyed every bit of it. The speakers were incredible too!”
“A week of adventure”
“Steamboat athletes are lucky to run these trails often and it was great to share them with our visiting athletes and to also explore some brand new areas. We built such comradeship in the five days, which felt like a new athlete family. We stay in touch and cheer each other on and sometimes from the same starting line. It definitely took our XC season to a new level”
”It was amazing all around!”
“I loved all the runs and the people. Hahns Peak and Pearl Lake were my favorite runs. Honestly, I loved all of them! The coaches were all amazing”
"Epic Week"
It was awesome to meet new athletes from so many different places and reconnect with friends from camp the previous year. We had some trail adventures together, learned from some great coaches, and ran on some epic trails. Even as a college student, I’ll be back.
“Great camp with wonderful coaches”
I really enjoyed all the coaches' positive outlook and overall support of the athletes, which made the running really enjoyable despite also being challenging. Learning about cross-training and having adventures together was great!
“Beautiful trails and adventures”
I think the time allocation for our camp days was amazing and everything was balanced well. I loved having the kids of different ages because it felt like a great opportunity to show how amazing our sport is. Thank you for an amazing camp! It was incredible to run and talk with experienced coaches.”.
Elevate Mountain Running Camp - An Unforgettable Experience
Your Amazing Coaches
Lisa Renee has coached for over 25 years, as a strength, running, and cycling coach. Lisa Renee’s specialties include functional movement and mobility, sport-specific program design, endurance training, and power and speed training. Lisa Renee is the Head Coach for the Steamboat Springs High School Cross Country and Track & Field programs and is the founder of Steamboat Springs Youth Track Field.
She is passionate about coaching high school athletes and helping them chase excellence, in ways that are measured by the human heart, much more than a physical outcome. Lisa Renee’s roots as an athlete began on high school cross country and track & field teams, and she then turned her athletic passions to collegiate and professional rodeo. As an adult, she has competed as a professional road cyclist, including racing on domestic professional teams and as an ultra-endurance cyclist. Her cycling accomplishments include winning a National Hill Climbing Championship, winning the 12-Hour World Time Trial Championships, and winning the Race Across America on a 4-person women’s team.
She and her husband now race as Team Steamboat in multi-day adventure races, involving mountain biking, trail running, white water, and orienteering. Their kids, Alexandra, Bowden, and son-in-law Destrey, chase adventure on mountain trails, alpine summits, and around the globe.
For Lisa Renee and her family, health and sport are gifts that should cause us to dare to live audaciously and count every adventure as a gift from above.
Jeremy Strom is the founder and Head Performance Running Coach for Satori Endurance. SATORI refers to a perfect focus, thought, action and success. In SATORI, fear, failure, negativity and distraction do not exist. SATORI is the purest form of our potential.
As a young boy, one of Jeremy’s passions was running, to school, at recess, back home, and in most of his free time. Jeremy explains how running gave him freedom, otherwise lost in the chaos, school work, and social interference. When he was just 7 years old, he received two books as a gift (Jim Fixx’s Complete Book of Running and Bruce Lee’s The Tao of Jeet Kun Do). The philosophies and concepts of these two books started him on the path of wonder, running, martial arts, and performance. Fast forward through change, growth, experience, 50 countries, and thousands of athletes, SATORI Endurance was born.
Jeremy is also the Head Coach for Liberty High School Cross Country in Colorado Springs. Jeremy brings a unique set of skills, education, and experience to youth athletes. Jeremy has been blessed to travel the world working with Fitness Professionals, National Teams, and Professional Athletes for the past 30+ years. While Jeremy’s education and experience span a variety of sports and training modalities, his first love is running and coaching runners.
Over the last 25 years, Jeremy has built a system of training and running performance that allows athletes to find JOY and SUCCESS in all aspects of running. Jeremy’s unique 5 pillar intensity scale and Perception Based Performance will allow all levels of runners to achieve their SATORI.
Alicia grew up in the rugged ranching community of Gillette Wyoming. For most of her childhood, you could find her on a horse at a rodeo or with a basketball at the gym. She got into cross-country out of curiosity, trying it out for a season and completely falling in love with the difficulty and freedom of running.
Eventually, her newfound running addiction landed her at Stanford University to study Human Biology and train and compete in the Cross Country and Track and Field Programs. Those years helped her become the person, professional, and athlete she is nowadays. Shortly after graduating, she moved to Mammoth Lakes to try her hand at the professional running realm.
After a lot of setbacks and difficulties, she had to step away from the sport for a while. Somewhere along the way she found solace and healing in the small mountain community of Flagstaff Arizona and decided to turn her passion for the sport towards helping others reach their own running and health goals as a coach. Eventually, she was able to battle her way back to being healthy and resume training and racing. In recent years she has transitioned from road and track racing to a new adventure in mountain/trail racing.
She is currently the owner of Alicia Shay Coaching and also works for The Run SMART Project. She loves adventuring around the mountains and canyons of Northern Arizona. You can usually find her out on a beautiful trail or catching a sunset/sunrise ski on the San Francisco Peaks.
Two-time NCAA 10,000m champion
NCAA 10,000m record holder
2007 USA 20 km champion
USA Olympic Trials 10,000m 4th place finisher
2015 Transvulcania Sky Running- 4th place
2014 North Face 50 mile Championships- 6th place
2013 Flagstaff Sky Race 39k Champion
2013 Moab Red Hot 33k Champion
2012 TransRockies Individual Champion
PR’s: 5,000m: 15:25, 10,000m: 32:19
Doug is an experienced adventurer and expedition leader, having completed multiple mountaineering, ocean, and polar expeditions.
His mountaineering exploits include the summits of Mt. Everest, the world’s tallest mountain, and Denali, North America’s tallest mountain. Doug was the team leader for both expeditions and his team was awarded the Denali Pro award by the National Park Service for the assistance they rendered to another climber during a severe storm.
Doug was also a team member of an 8-person crew that rowed 3,600 miles across the Indian Ocean from Western Australia to the African continent in an ocean-going rowboat. Their team was awarded multiple Guinness World Records for the expedition, including the fastest crossing of the Indian Ocean by rowboat – 58 days at sea. In 2016, Doug attempted a solo, unsupported ski expedition, traversing from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole. He was forced to abandon the effort after 36 days/360 miles due to adverse weather conditions and a nagging injury.
Doug was a cross-country athlete and 800m runner in high school track and field. As an adult, Doug has focused on endurance races such as the New York City Marathon, Leadville Silver Rush 50-mile, and the Leadville Trail 100 Ultramarathon. He and his wife Lisa Renee now compete in multi-day adventure races involving trail running, mountain biking, orienteering, and white water rafting.
Doug enjoys speaking to youth athletes about goal setting, perseverance, the power of attitude, and the beauty of the natural world.
Doug enjoys speaking to youth athletes about goal setting, perseverance, the power of attitude, and the beauty of the natural world.
Chris Vargo grew up in Indiana where he fell in love with endurance sports at a young age.
While attending Indiana University, Chris developed a passion for bike racing where he and his team, the Cutters, won the Little 500, made famous by the movie Breaking Away, in 2004.
He also helped lead Indiana University to a 2 nd place finish at Collegiate Road Nationals and has also collected multiple podium finishes while racing on the roads. After a short hiatus from bike racing, Chris quickly found himself back in the endurance racing world. This time, as a runner!
His love for the trails and mountains drew him to the trail/ultrarunning scene where he ran professionally for a handful of years. On top of running, Chris enjoys mountain biking and ski mountaineer racing.
Chris loves sharing his experiences and knowledge for endurance sports with others and never hesitates to help the up-and-coming younger generations of athletes!
Kelly is currently the assistant Cross Country and Track coach at Steamboat Springs High School. Her foundation as an athlete today was built in her high school running days. She grew up in Massachusetts and competed in cross country and track there, and then as a collegiate runner at Cornell University.
As an adult living in Boston, she competed in the many road races there, eventually moving up to the marathon distance. After moving to Steamboat Springs, she was training for her third Boston marathon when a stress fracture changed her course. Spending that summer on a bicycle, she fell in love with mountain bike racing and thus began a 15-year stint in the professional/elite world of cycling. She credits her years of hard work and discipline as a cross country and track athlete for the successes she had later in life on the bicycle.
Kelly is also a mother of two daughters and has enjoyed traveling alongside them with the many different mountain sports that these lucky Steamboat kids are exposed to. Six years ago, her older daughter decided to run cross country as a freshman. Kelly was introduced to Lisa Renee and found herself coming full circle as a coach in the sport which introduced her to all of the greatness of athletics.
Lisa Renee has coached for over 25 years, as a strength, running, and cycling coach. Lisa Renee’s specialties include functional movement and mobility, sport-specific program design, endurance training, and power and speed training. Lisa Renee is the Head Coach for the Steamboat Springs High School Cross Country and Track & Field programs and is the founder of Steamboat Springs Youth Track Field.
She is passionate about coaching high school athletes and helping them chase excellence, in ways that are measured by the human heart, much more than a physical outcome. Lisa Renee’s roots as an athlete began on high school cross country and track & field teams, and she then turned her athletic passions to collegiate and professional rodeo. As an adult, she has competed as a professional road cyclist, including racing on domestic professional teams and as an ultra-endurance cyclist. Her cycling accomplishments include winning a National Hill Climbing Championship, winning the 12-Hour World Time Trial Championships, and winning the Race Across America on a 4-person women’s team.
She and her husband now race as Team Steamboat in multi-day adventure races, involving mountain biking, trail running, white water, and orienteering. Their kids, Alexandra, Bowden, and son-in-law Destrey, chase adventure on mountain trails, alpine summits, and around the globe.
For Lisa Renee and her family, health and sport are gifts that should cause us to dare to live audaciously and count every adventure as a gift from above.
Jeremy Strom is the founder and Head Performance Running Coach for Satori Endurance. SATORI refers to a perfect focus, thought, action and success. In SATORI, fear, failure, negativity and distraction do not exist. SATORI is the purest form of our potential.
As a young boy, one of Jeremy’s passions was running, to school, at recess, back home, and in most of his free time. Jeremy explains how running gave him freedom, otherwise lost in the chaos, school work, and social interference. When he was just 7 years old, he received two books as a gift (Jim Fixx’s Complete Book of Running and Bruce Lee’s The Tao of Jeet Kun Do). The philosophies and concepts of these two books started him on the path of wonder, running, martial arts, and performance. Fast forward through change, growth, experience, 50 countries, and thousands of athletes, SATORI Endurance was born.
Jeremy is also the Head Coach for Liberty High School Cross Country in Colorado Springs. Jeremy brings a unique set of skills, education, and experience to youth athletes. Jeremy has been blessed to travel the world working with Fitness Professionals, National Teams, and Professional Athletes for the past 30+ years. While Jeremy’s education and experience span a variety of sports and training modalities, his first love is running and coaching runners.
Over the last 25 years, Jeremy has built a system of training and running performance that allows athletes to find JOY and SUCCESS in all aspects of running. Jeremy’s unique 5 pillar intensity scale and Perception Based Performance will allow all levels of runners to achieve their SATORI.
Alicia grew up in the rugged ranching community of Gillette Wyoming. For most of her childhood, you could find her on a horse at a rodeo or with a basketball at the gym. She got into cross-country out of curiosity, trying it out for a season and completely falling in love with the difficulty and freedom of running.
Eventually, her newfound running addiction landed her at Stanford University to study Human Biology and train and compete in the Cross Country and Track and Field Programs. Those years helped her become the person, professional, and athlete she is nowadays. Shortly after graduating, she moved to Mammoth Lakes to try her hand at the professional running realm.
After a lot of setbacks and difficulties, she had to step away from the sport for a while. Somewhere along the way she found solace and healing in the small mountain community of Flagstaff Arizona and decided to turn her passion for the sport towards helping others reach their own running and health goals as a coach. Eventually, she was able to battle her way back to being healthy and resume training and racing. In recent years she has transitioned from road and track racing to a new adventure in mountain/trail racing.
She is currently the owner of Alicia Shay Coaching and also works for The Run SMART Project. She loves adventuring around the mountains and canyons of Northern Arizona. You can usually find her out on a beautiful trail or catching a sunset/sunrise ski on the San Francisco Peaks.
Two-time NCAA 10,000m champion
NCAA 10,000m record holder
2007 USA 20 km champion
USA Olympic Trials 10,000m 4th place finisher
2015 Transvulcania Sky Running- 4th place
2014 North Face 50 mile Championships- 6th place
2013 Flagstaff Sky Race 39k Champion
2013 Moab Red Hot 33k Champion
2012 TransRockies Individual Champion
PR’s: 5,000m: 15:25, 10,000m: 32:19
Doug is an experienced adventurer and expedition leader, having completed multiple mountaineering, ocean, and polar expeditions.
His mountaineering exploits include the summits of Mt. Everest, the world’s tallest mountain, and Denali, North America’s tallest mountain. Doug was the team leader for both expeditions and his team was awarded the Denali Pro award by the National Park Service for the assistance they rendered to another climber during a severe storm.
Doug was also a team member of an 8-person crew that rowed 3,600 miles across the Indian Ocean from Western Australia to the African continent in an ocean-going rowboat. Their team was awarded multiple Guinness World Records for the expedition, including the fastest crossing of the Indian Ocean by rowboat – 58 days at sea. In 2016, Doug attempted a solo, unsupported ski expedition, traversing from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole. He was forced to abandon the effort after 36 days/360 miles due to adverse weather conditions and a nagging injury.
Doug was a cross-country athlete and 800m runner in high school track and field. As an adult, Doug has focused on endurance races such as the New York City Marathon, Leadville Silver Rush 50-mile, and the Leadville Trail 100 Ultramarathon. He and his wife Lisa Renee now compete in multi-day adventure races involving trail running, mountain biking, orienteering, and white water rafting.
Doug enjoys speaking to youth athletes about goal setting, perseverance, the power of attitude, and the beauty of the natural world.
Doug enjoys speaking to youth athletes about goal setting, perseverance, the power of attitude, and the beauty of the natural world.
Chris Vargo grew up in Indiana where he fell in love with endurance sports at a young age.
While attending Indiana University, Chris developed a passion for bike racing where he and his team, the Cutters, won the Little 500, made famous by the movie Breaking Away, in 2004.
He also helped lead Indiana University to a 2 nd place finish at Collegiate Road Nationals and has also collected multiple podium finishes while racing on the roads. After a short hiatus from bike racing, Chris quickly found himself back in the endurance racing world. This time, as a runner!
His love for the trails and mountains drew him to the trail/ultrarunning scene where he ran professionally for a handful of years. On top of running, Chris enjoys mountain biking and ski mountaineer racing. Chris loves sharing his experiences and knowledge for endurance sports with others and never hesitates to help the up-and-coming younger generations of athletes!
Kelly is currently the assistant Cross Country and Track coach at Steamboat Springs High School. Her foundation as an athlete today was built in her high school running days. She grew up in Massachusetts and competed in cross country and track there, and then as a collegiate runner at Cornell University.
As an adult living in Boston, she competed in the many road races there, eventually moving up to the marathon distance. After moving to Steamboat Springs, she was training for her third Boston marathon when a stress fracture changed her course. Spending that summer on a bicycle, she fell in love with mountain bike racing and thus began a 15-year stint in the professional/elite world of cycling. She credits her years of hard work and discipline as a cross country and track athlete for the successes she had later in life on the bicycle.
Kelly is also a mother of two daughters and has enjoyed traveling alongside them with the many different mountain sports that these lucky Steamboat kids are exposed to. Six years ago, her older daughter decided to run cross country as a freshman. Kelly was introduced to Lisa Renee and found herself coming full circle as a coach in the sport which introduced her to all of the greatness of athletics.
Frequently Asked Questions
The following are some commonly asked questions, if you need any information please email or call Jeremy Strom or Lisa Renee Tumminello.
Where is the dropoff and pickup locations?
We will meet at the Columbine Cabins on the first afternoon of camp and will finish at Fish Creek Falls or in downtown Steamboat Springs.
Can I request my Cabin-mate?
Yes, you can. We will send a google link before camp, asking each athlete about their dietary considerations, medical considerations, and cabin-mate preferences. We want to make sure that all athletes feel welcome and at home for the week.
Can teams and coaches attend the camp?
Absolutely! We will offer discounts for groups of athletes from the same team and work with their coaches to make sure they can join their athletes for the week.
What COVID protocols do you have in place?
Colombine Cabins have been professionally cleaned and sanitized to minimize the spread of covid and other illnesses. All athletes have the freedom to wear a mask if they choose and your coaches will be diligent about following all health and safety guidelines that are in place.
What fitness level do I need to participate?
We recommend having a foundation of running fitness prior to joining Camp. We will tailor the distance and goals of each run to make sure everyone is supported and successful in their own journey. If you want pre-camp training please send us an email.
Will the itinerary change?
As in life and running, change is constant. We will be diligent about our schedule and also be flexible and spontaneous to create our best week.
I live in Steamboat (or nearby) do I NEED to stay in the Cabins?
We understand that many of our athletes live in and around Steamboat Springs. With that in mind, we offer both a lodging and non-lodging option. If you do have the ability to stay, we believe that this adds an amazing opportunity to be immersed in the Camp for the week. Either way, we can't wait to have you join us!