Registration

REGISTER BEFORE MAY 15th TO RECEIVE $75 OFF.

Pre-registration $375* - Before May 15th

General registration $450* - After May 15th

*$50 due at registration. Balance of payment due upon arrival.

Deadline for general registration is July 30th.

Running Ahrens Cross Country Camp

Join us for another year of Running Ahrens Cross Country Camp at Rock Mountain Bible Camp. Our first year of camp was 30 years ago and we are excited for another great year.

During the week of camp, we aim to prepare athletes both mentally and physically for the upcoming season.  The week will be challenging so we encourage all campers to come with a base level of fitness.  Each workout will be modified to fit the individual's level of ability and fitness.  Running Ahrens Cross Country Camp is open to athletes in grades 9-12 for the 2023-2024 school year.

Not least of all, camp will be fun!  This is a great week to develop team bonds as well as make new friends with runners from other teams.

Camp facilities include:

• 18-hole disc golf course
• Gymnasium
• TEAM initiative course
• Zipline
• Dining hall
• Cabins/dorm rooms
• Game room
• Swimming pool
• Meeting rooms for clinics and chapels
• Canoes
• Kayaks
• Craft room

Click here for a video tour of the camp.

Camp activities include:

• 1 or 2 workouts each day
• Run up Elk Mountain, the highest peak in eastern Pennsylvania
• 1 or 2 clinics each day covering topics such as injury prevention, running form, training principles, race strategy, etc.
• Form analysis
• Volleyball tournament
• Three hot, all you care to eat meals served daily in the dining hall
• Monday night pizza party
• Friday night campfire
• Chapel
• Daily recreation and free times
• Team bonding activities
• Q & A sessions
• Giveaways courtesy of National Running Center and Scranton Running Company

Click here for the 2019 camp video.

Daily Schedule (Tuesday—Friday)

7:30 am-8:15 am        Breakfast

8:30 am-9:30 am        Clinic

9:45 am-11:30 am      Morning workout

12:00 pm-12:45 pm    Lunch

1:00 pm-2:00 pm        Clinic

2:15 pm-3:45 pm        Free time

4:00 pm-5:15 pm        Afternoon workout

5:30 pm-6:15 pm        Dinner

6:45 pm-7:45 pm        Tournament time

8:00 pm-9:00 pm        Chapel

9:00 pm-10:00 pm      Snack bar open; free time

10:00 pm                    Cabins/dorms

10:30 pm                    Lights out

COST

REGISTER BEFORE MAY 15th TO RECEIVE $75 OFF

Pre-registration $375* - Before May 15th

General registration $450* - After June 15th

*$50 due at registration. Balance of payment due upon arrival.

Deadline for general registration is July 30th.

ARRIVAL & DEPARTURE

Check-in: Monday, August 7th, 3:30-5PM

Check-out: Saturday, August 12th, 10AM 

WHAT TO BRING

Sleeping bag or bedding

Pillow

Toiletries

Towels

Plenty of running clothes (especially socks!).  Shirts must be worn for all runs on camp property.

Multiple pairs of running shoes

Swimwear (no bare midriff)

Cash for snack shack

Insect repellant

Sunscreen

Water bottle with your name on it

Flashlight

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS are permitted only with signed parent permission and dosage instructions. All medications will be kept and administered by our trainer.

Check this space for further details as they become available.  A checklist for what to bring and what not to bring will be emailed prior to camp.  

CAMP STAFF

Our staff includes some of the most successful coaches in the state of Pennsylvania.  Combined they share over 100 years of coaching experience and have worked with more than 40 athletes who went on to become individual state medalists.  Additionally, between the choaches there are also 7 state championship team titles and 9 state runner-up team finishes.

Rob Ahrens - Coach Ahrens has 14 years of high school and college coaching experience.  He has coached multiple district champions and state medalists as well as Foot Locker Cross Country Champion Tessa Barrett.  He currently serves as the Head Women's and Men's Cross Country Coach at Gannon University. Prior to Gannon, he was Head Cross Country/Track & Field coach at Marywood University for four years, winning 12 conference championships. He was voted twelve-time Atlantic East Conference Coach of the Year. His own running success includes winning the Hershey Half Marathon, Scranton Half Marathon, and Binghamton Bridge Run in addition to placing in the top 5 in the Steamtown Marathon three times.

Jeff Brandt - Coach Brandt began coaching at Danville Area High School in Fall of 1978 in Cross Country and Track and Field. Prior to that, he ran at Hershey High School and Bloomsburg State College (University) in both Cross Country and Track and Field. Coached a total of 32 PIAA District IV Team Titles (11 Boys and 21 Girls), and 12 Individual District IV Titles (5 Times a Boy and 7 Times a Girl Won). At the state meet, had 6 Runner-Up Place Finishes (1 Boys Team in 1984 and 5 Girls Teams 1992, 1997, 2015, 2018, 2022) with 2 State Titles under the girls program (1991 and 2017). 9 times a boy and 23 times a girl has placed individually in the Top 25 at States, including 2022 AA State Champion, Rory Lieberman.

Ronnie Chastain, M.A., A.T.C. - Head Athletic Trainer and adjunct instructor at Clarks Summit University.

Kip Hoffman - Coach Hoffman has 22 years of coaching including 7 years as head coach at Warrior Run High School, 10 years assistant coach at Bucknell University, and 2 years as head coach at Lycoming College. He is currently back back at Warrior Run as an assistant coach.  As an athelte, he competed at Warrior Run and Bloomsburg University.  After college, he raced several marathons including Boston and NYC and currently enjoys long runs in the woods (finished two "hundred milers" last year!).

Will Squier - With 22 years of coaching experience, 4 state titles, and 4 state runner-up finishes, Coach Squier leads one of the premier cross country programs in PIAA Class A.  During his time at Elk Lake he has been earned multiple "Coach of the Year" awards for both his boys and girls programs.  

Caleb Bakalyar- Caleb Bakalyar is a recent graduate from Marywood University. At Marywood, Caleb earned numerous honors in his athletic career such as two individual Atlantic East Conference titles in steeplechase, five team titles in XC and Track, as well as 3 AEC first team honors, 2 second team honors, and the inaugural Atlantic East 20 award in cross country for having the highest GPA of any athlete competing in the conference meet. Currently Caleb is kicking off his post-collegate career as he trains for his half-maration debut in the Balitmore Half-Marathon.

Caden Dufrene- Caden is a familar face around camp being himself from the camp class of 21' and a graduate of Warrior Run High School. Dufrene recenlty completed his sophmore year at Bloomsburg University where he is studying Information Technology & Analytics. Additionally, Caden has earned a spot on the USTFCCA All-Academic team for his performance in school. Welcome back Caden!

Ely Personius- Eli hails from the cold tundra of Buffalo, New York. He is a current athlete at Gannon University where he is going into his senior year of a Physical Therapy degree. Eli boasts an extensive list of accomplishments distinguishing hinmself as a scholar athlete with two PSAC Scholar Athlete awards and one PSAC Second Team award. This is Eli's first year at camp, and we're excited to welcome him as a freshman counselor.

Emma Steele- Emma is a recent graduate of Gannon University with a B.A. in Marketing and Finance. At Gannon, Emma created quite the name for herself earning two DII ADA Academic Awards, 3 PSAC Scholar Athelte Awards, one USTFCCA All Academic Recognitions, a First Team All Conference Honor, and a Second Team All Conference Honor (take a breathe now). We welocme Emma to camp for her first year as a counselor!

Laura Rybka- Coach Rybka is the head coach of Cross Country and Track and Field at Grove City College. A native of Peninsula, Ohio, Rybka graduated from Malone in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. She is completing her master’s degree in exercise physiology at the University of Akron. Coach Rybka additonally has experience in sports ministry and working with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

More coaches & counselors TBA.