Camp Saucony

Greetings, Tribe!!

I can’t believe it’s already been a week since Camp Saucony!!! Just over a week ago, dozens of running specialty associates convened at a summer camp in New Hampshire courtesy of Saucony. I, and my friend Betsy, we’re lucky enough to be chosen to attend this massive event. Going into the week, we had very little idea of what to expect. Yes, they sent itineraries and packing suggestions, but we really didn’t know.

We arrived Tuesday evening, in the midst of a rainy day, just in time to settle into our cabins and head to dinner.

At dinner we are deliciously (Seriously. The food was outstanding!). They explained how we’re divided into regions of the country, and those would be our teams that would be competing against each other all week. Saucony also introduced some of their elite athletes (Jared Ward, Noah Droddy, and Laura Thweatt) with whom we got to hang all week. Then they sent us to bed.

Wednesday morning our first team challenge was to run a 5k (it was Global Running Day, so what else would we have done?!). We had a full breakfast and then went off to our activities. There were two brand discussions about how they engineered various shoes and why, and what shoe updates were coming down the pipeline.

On both Wednesday and Thursday, we were allotted time to participate in classic camp activities. I chose kayaking and archery both days. Talk about great cross training!!

Thursday afternoon we participated in an all camp Color War. Our four teams competed in flag design, lip syncing, and a massive relay which included canoeing, carrying a person up a hill, eating an entire bowl of cereal and running, shooting baskets, three legged race, wheel barrel, lacing a pair of shoes, archery, a giant slip and slide, floppy cup among others. Our team had a rough week and started last (there were staggered starts based off of points earned throughout the week) but finished in third! I’m quite proud of our team as we had to make up a LOT of time!

Camp Saucony was an outstanding experience. Not only was I lucky enough to learn more about the product and the company, I was able to share stories and ideas with other people in the industry. To get up each morning and run with someone new and to be a little part of each other’s journey in running and in helping those in our home communities with their endeavors, was something I will hold dear for many years to come. Happy trails, my friends!