Owl's Head Park

Despite my upbeat final weeks at Buck and Beaver, I did not return to camp the summer of nineteen seventy-eight, opting instead to dedicate myself to the rigorous summer training program mandated, mandated by my track and cross-country coach at Saverian High School, Mr. McCartney.

This involved running ever-increasing distances and speeds as the summer progressed, culminating in two-a-days, a long-distance run in the morning, at least twelve miles, followed by an arduous hill workout at Owl's Head Park in the afternoon.

What became obvious as I advanced from the freshman team to junior varsity and finally varsity was that this regimen burnt us out before the cross-country season even began, meaning that my most impressive runs invariably took place in August and early September, weeks before the first meets.

This brutal schedule, combined with complete lack of strength training, had our team looking like malnourished POWs by the time we first stepped up to the starting line in Van Cortlandt Park in late September.