Wisconsin Camp of Champions?

WISC COC wrote:

I'm thinking about signing up for this camp. Looks pretty fun. I've never done a running camp before.

Do they have a time trial on the first day? Is that rough? Does everyone go all out or would it be wise to take it easy?

This camp is only 5 days long but I can't find a schedule about what the run/workout is each day. Does anyone know or is it random?

Is there a dance or concert on the last night? That's what I heard but it isn't advertised at all. What's that like?

How much free time is there? What do most campers do with that time? Do they roam Madison, or sleep, or just eat?

The WCOC is the most fun I've probably ever had.

On the first day there is an evaluation run. They put you into groups after this. There is a history of group one runners trying to run fast to impress the councilors, but that isn't every group and you can always tempo the 2.7 mile evaluation run to avoid this. I was in group 8 last year, and some of the runs felt fast, but overall it wasn't that bad.

The schedule changes day by day, and your individual group decides to meet in the morning at different times. Then there is also an afternoon session at 3, but only the higher groups make full use of this session with workouts. Group one has some intense workouts, but nothing like your in season workouts and nothing you can't shorten up if you feel it will be too intense.

There was a dance in the basement of the dorm building with loud music and people. If you are social, it is lots of fun dancing/girls and stuff. I decided to be social, so I had a blast.

There is not a lot of free time. Maybe an hour or two a day, mainly during the evening before lights out. A usual schedule would look like this.

6am: Morning session

8am: Breakfast with everyone (we always showed up late so there were no lines)

9am: Group activity such as listening to a speaker or going through some strength drills.

11am: Hour of free time

12: Lunch

1pm: Group activity such as listening to speaker. We went bowling one time as well. It varies. Lots of speakers and ab workouts though, which were hard.

3pm: Afternoon session. In the lower groups, it could just be abs, icing, or hurdle/stretching drills.

5-6pm: Dinner

7pm: Ultimate frisbee tournament. Probably the most intense and fun tournament I've ever been a part of. Work on your frisbee skills before you come because you will want to be good for this. You have a couple of games every day with the championship/playoffs on the last few days.

8pm: Couple hours of free time OR swimming and stuff like that. Free time could include being in your dorms, playing baggo or basketball or throwing around a frisbee.

10:30pm: Lights out

On the last few days, there is certain time you are given to visit Madison and buy stuff. One time our councilor didn't run with us so we ran downtown and did a few loops. I had tons of fun at this camp, but if you aren't going with a team, you have to be social. Get to know some people. Bro it up. I will be going again during the first session this year and I honestly can't wait. It was f***ing awesome last time.

I hope you found this helpful. You got me really excited about going again, so I thought I would advise you that it is definitely worth the money you spend. I was so tired at the end of those days that 10:30 felt like 3am. I hope you decide to go!

Yeah I'll be going by myself thanks for all the info! So is the main run of each day at 6am before eating breakfast? That sounds tough. And how many people are in each group? Do you stick with your group the whole camp pretty much? Like same free time as your group members and stuff. I suck at ultimate haha!

WISC COC wrote:

Yeah I'll be going by myself thanks for all the info! So is the main run of each day at 6am before eating breakfast? That sounds tough. And how many people are in each group? Do you stick with your group the whole camp pretty much? Like same free time as your group members and stuff. I suck at ultimate haha!

You are only with your training group during the sessions. You can pal around with whoever you want. The main run is in the morning before breakfast and it varies in time. I think my group elected to meet around 6:30 while group one was up early every day at 6am or so. There are around 10 kids in each group, so you will get to know the councilor and the councilor will know you. Along with your training group, you have a frisbee/race group. This group has kids from all different training groups on the same team for the race at the end of the camp and for the ultimate frisbee tourney. The only time you spend with these groups is the time aloted to that activity. The rest of the time is yours to spend with whoeever.

You should go. You'll have a blast. Best camp ever!

I'm going to this camp 2nd sesh. It'll be my first time too man! I'm sorta nervous...how easy is it to meet people in such short time? If we're not required to be with our groups during free time, how do I find some cool people and not waste my time by myself here! And would it be a tool move to wear my running watch everyday and record stuff? Is it more chill or does everyone wear a watch?

first time camper wrote:

I'm going to this camp 2nd sesh. It'll be my first time too man! I'm sorta nervous...how easy is it to meet people in such short time? If we're not required to be with our groups during free time, how do I find some cool people and not waste my time by myself here! And would it be a tool move to wear my running watch everyday and record stuff? Is it more chill or does everyone wear a watch?

You will be fine its really easy to meet people, as long as you are not a recluse/shy kid, you will be golden. I wouldnt worry about the watch or recording either as I know the men's team records their runs with logs, just dont be that tool that urges the group to add on if you finish a run at 69:46 because 10 miles is 70min or somethin along those lines

How to break the ice? Just ask about school and PRs and year in school? Do people talk about running here or what?

Hey Phenom, or anyone, do you know the cutoff times for each group for the evaluation run? I'll be going to this camp for my first time. First session. Do you know the pace you need to maintain to get into different group numbers? I want to challenge myself at this camp but I also don't want to overwork and struggle. What would a 5:30 pace, 5:20 pace, and 5:10 pace put me in group wise? I'm trying to figure out if I should tempo this or put a bit of race effort into it.

The WCOC is a fantastic camp, or at least was when Schumacher was there and I can only assume it's still just as awesome. I went with my XC team but met plenty of great guys that were flying solo.

I ran 13:40-13:50 for the 2.7 miles and ended up in Group 2. My teammates and I all took it as a pretty hard effort. Definitely not a tempo run, but a step down from racing. I think its a good way to go to ensure that you aren't way over your head. You're there to get in solid training for your upcoming XC season, not chance setting yourself back by trying to impress people.

So yes, go! Have fun and run hard.

What should I bring to this camp? Anything you wish you knew about so you could have brought items to come prepared with?

Also how much spending money does one need for the week?

first time camper wrote:

How to break the ice? Just ask about school and PRs and year in school? Do people talk about running here or what?

I did the camp many years ago and had a blast. I think you will love it.

Don't be afraid to be social/outgoing/friendly. Everyone is there to have a good time so just buddy up with people in your training group, people you meet in the dorm, your roommate, a cute girl, whoever. Ask them about where they are from, what they have been doing this summer, do they have a job, have they gone on vacation, what their HS is like, where they want to go to college, do they play any other sports, etc. And if you're talking with that cute girl, ask her if she wants to go downtown and get an ice cream cone.

Someone asked about how much money to bring, well there typically isn't much free time, but they do schedule a trip downtown so you will want to bring some cash to buy a snack or ice cream down there, and if you want to do any shopping then bring some extra money for that. Also they sell t-shirts and other Wisconsin Track gear at the camp, so you may want to have some cash for that (but note that you do get a free camp t-shirt just for going to the camp).

Awesome camp. i went the year me and simon bairu were rising high school seniors. i think i ended up in group 2 after racing the first day time trial thing, simon destroyed everyone and was the lead of the group 1 training group. i ended up being almost the slowest in my group though and struggled to keep up in some of the interval and tempo workouts. my group lead that year happened to be matt tegenkamp.

also, one afternoon we went to the track and watched suzy favor-hamilton and her training group do a workout. a few of us ended up doing her cooldown with her.

the trainin groups were co-ed, so if you aren't a fast-ish guy, you might have the fastest girl(s) in your group. i think the fastest girls may have been around group 4 or 5, of like 10.

Can someone tell me the cutoff evaluation course times for groups 2, 3, and 4?

There aren't really cut-offs, as in anyone under XX:XX will be in group one. It only matters what other people run for the time trial. They take the top 10-15 times and put them in group one. Then they take the next 10-15 times and make group two, ect. So it really depends on how fast everyone else is, there are no set cut-offs.

Although, they also look at your PR's and the mileage you've been doing before camp, to help sort groups.

be careful during frisbee, some kids go ham and that could be dangerous. In a collision, me and a teammate both broke bones that sidelined us during a frisbee game. please be sensible.

can someone tell me when the deadline is. I know I missed it

I'm bad at going to camp.