Philosophy

The philosophy of the Oswego Youth Running Program is to provide an opportunity for young athletes to learn and enjoy the sport of cross country and distance running.  The goal of the program is for every runner to have fun while working hard to improve upon their own ability.  Each athlete will be encouraged to push themselves to do their very best.  Every member of the program will also learn to respect other team members based on their hard work and dedication to improve as a runner.  Every athlete, regardless of ability, who is willing to strive toward these goals is a welcome member of our program.

 

History

The Oswego Youth Running Program consists of three groups of runners.  The Cheetah's Program is designed for the youngest runners and is a girls and boys group ranging in age from second to fifth grade.  The Junior High Panthers Program is a girls group ages sixth to eigth grade.  The oldest group is the High School Panthers Program ranging in age from freshman to seniors.  The program began in the summer of 2008 meeting at Prairie Point Center for six weeks in the summer.  The Cheetah's consisted of runners from second thru eigth grade.  The group met very informally with 8 to 15 runners attending daily.

The following year the Cheetah's Program was run under the umbrella of the Oswegoland Park District.  The meeting site also changed to the grounds of Oswego High School.  In the summer of 2010, three distinct groups were formed with the program;  The Cheetah's, The Junior High Panthers and The High School Panthers.  The three groups combined for a total of nearly 110 runners!  The 2012 Cheetah program changed its meeting site again going back to Prairie Point Park.  This time the meeting area was a bit further south at the new pavillion.  A record number of 140 athletes turned out for the three groups.

 

Activities

The daily routine will be very similar each week of the summer program.  Within that routine the activity or workout will vary based on what the practice is looking to accomplish.  Each day may include one or more of the following, depending on the age of the group; stretching, push ups, sit ups, sprint drills, relays, distance runs, interval workouts, hills or cross country races.  The days workout for each athlete is based on their age and current level of ability.