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North Wake Runners Camp celebrates 25th anniversary




A young boy clears the high jump at the North Wake Runners Camp. Marty Simpkins | The Wake Weekly

RALEIGH — The North Wake Runners Camp has been going 25 years strong with its latest camp held this past week at North Raleigh Christian Academy.

This year’s camp was its biggest yet with 532 kids from 335 different families, along with 170 youth volunteers and 40 adult volunteers. The week-long camp teaches kids how to compete in track and field events such as relay races, sprints, hurdles, jumps, shot put and others.



Rob Craig, who started the camp 25 years ago, reflected on when it all started with 43 kids and just five volunteers. Now, it has grown into a yearly summer event that unites communities and families through outdoor activities.

“We just kept building every year,” Craig said. “We’ve kept making changes every year that allowed us to expand the camp. We learned early on that we needed to teach a large group of kids how to perform a specific event. It wasn’t until one of our volunteers Carter Hillman suggested that we run it like a school where we split up the kids by groups and rotate them around like classes. It helped us handle the flow once we got up to 200 kids.”

Boys and girls ages 6-12 years old were split into specific age groups to learn how to participate in various track and field events. Kids from Raleigh, Wake Forest, Rolesville, Youngsville, Franklinton and other nearby communities join in on the fun. There were two camps held this year, with the first one being in Franklinton held at Franklinton Park.

A group of boys race around the track at North Raleigh Christian Academy. Marty Simpkins | The Wake Weekly

At the end of the week, the Runners Camp hosts a large track and field meet to let the campers compete against one another based on age and gender. The camp not only deals with physical fitness, but spiritual fitness as well, with adults leading Christian devotions to the kids each day.

“We definitely want the camp to keep growing,” Craig said. “We always want to share the love of Jesus Christ with the kids. We want to make sure we share the love of God with every camper. We also want them to experience track and field.”

The 210 total volunteers is the most the Runners Camp has ever had in its past 25 years. Craig said the reason for that is that former campers come back to help out when they’re older or on summer break from school.

“We’ve had kids who been a part of this program for seven years,” Craig said. “One of the joys is seeing former campers come back and help as volunteers. Most of the volunteers we have right now participated as campers when they were younger.”

A group of girls compete against each other in the hurdles race. Marty Simpkins | The Wake Weekly

Craig went on to say that without the help of the volunteers, the Runners Camp would not exist today. The reason why it has gone 25 years strong is that he has consistently found people who been willing to help spread the burdens and delegate certain tasks and roles.

“Building a good team is probably the most important aspect of running a week-long camp like this,” Craig said. “I need a lot of help to manage a camp this size every year. Justin Rhodes first came to camp when he was 9 years old and now he helps pick our sites each year for hosting the camps. I’ve learned how to delegate responsibilities over the last 25 years. We have great volunteers.”

Now that the Runners Camp has celebrated its 25th anniversary, Craig wants to expand and keep things rolling. Next year, he plans on starting Runners Camp International, which will take place all over the east coast. He still plans on bringing the Runners Camp back to Raleigh for its 26th year.

“We’re making plans for next spring to host Runners Camps at different sites along the east coast,” Craig said. “We’re looking at places like Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and other places like that. I hope those will be possibilities next year. We’ll do three camps around here next summer.”

A young girl tries her hand at the obstacle course at the Runners Camp. Marty Simpkins | The Wake Weekly

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