High school cross country clinic to assist runners physically and spiritually

May 15, 2009 / 03:34 am

St. Malo Retreat Center near Estes Park, Colorado will host a five-day clinic next month which will challenge high school runners athletically as well as spiritually.  

 

St. Malo Catholic Retreat Center, based at the foot of Mount Meeker (a 13,900 ft. mountain), will host the first annual clinic June 7 -11.  The retreat will include rising each morning for a brisk 20 minute trail run followed by Mass in a historic stone chapel. Athletes will participate in team challenges and listen to technical talks given by elite runners such as Ashley Anderson from Denver who is currently training for the 2010 Olympic Trials in the Women’s Marathon.

 

Each evening, the runners will gather around a campfire to discuss scripture passages relating to their experiences from the day.

 

St. Malo Marketing Manager Wendy Sun Hohn told CNA that the clinic will be based on the teachings of the Catholic Church and use “running as an analogy of our faith journey.”

 

She continued: “Our life is similar to a marathon; there will be ups and downs, challenges and great joys as we develop a relationship with Jesus Christ. There will be times of great comfort and strength and times of weakness and frustration; we may want to give up, however, as St. Irenaeus put it so well, ‘In the race of life, run so as to win’.”

 

Registration ends June 1.  For more information, email Sandy Harem at sharem@creatioweb.org