X-Treme Running Camp to feature track & field luminaries

By Laurie Gordon NEWTON — Olympians and nationally ranked coaches will be flocking to Lodestar Park in Newton during the week of Aug. 6 through 10. The likes of Marcus O'Sullivan, who splits his time between coaching at Villanova University and his family's farm in Layton, will be one of them. O'Sullivan has run a sub-four-minute mile over 100 times and has been in multiple Olympic Games representing his native country of Ireland. Then there's Tom Fleming, who won the New York City Marathon and is known around the world for his former running prowess and the clinics he presents to budding runners. They'll be in town for X-Treme Youth Running Camp which Fleming deems, "one of the most motivational camps I've seen." Entering it's 12th year, X-Treme Running Camp prepares high school and middle school cross country runners for the fall season and also attracts other endurance athletes in other sports like soccer, field hockey and wrestling as a way to get their endurance and speed ready for their respective seasons. The camp goes from 9 a.m. to noon and features distance runs, relays, training advice, nutritional information and a lot of fun. Steve Slattery will also be in town. The Jersey native is known world-wide for his performance in the steeplechase. His career best performance was in Brussels when he stopped the clocks at 8:15:69 for the 3,000 meter steeplechase. Slattery, who spoke at X-Treme Running Camp last year said, "I love talking to kids who are interested in any aspect of the sport of running. It's such a positive sport and whatever I can help them learn about training, I'm glad to do." Michael Mykytok, the former national 10-mile and 10k champion, has spoken at X-Treme Camp for a number of years. "These are some of the best training grounds around," said Mykytok of the hills and trails at Lodestar Park, "It's a great place to become a strong runner." One of Mykytok's favorite stories to tell the kids is about the time he was training in the winter and learned the snow plow's route so he could follow it and run during a storm to prepare for a big race. Albert Siuta has been a coach at the camp since its inception. "I look forward to camp week every year," he said. Now at the helm of NJ Racing, a road racing timing enterprise, Siuta said one of his favorite parts of camp is watching the kids develop year after year. "It's great to see a kid start coming to camp at a young age then watch him or her run in high school and really bloom into the sport," said Siuta. The camp has seen many kids go on to receive college scholarships and continue their running after college. Several have gone on to do marathons after college like X-Treme Running Camp veterans Sam McMullen, who grew up in Hampton, and Amanda Jones, a Stillwater native. Both ran cross country for Kittatinny Regional High School. The camp is for high school and middle school runners as well as younger kids with a passion for the sport. The kids are grouped by ability for the initial group run as well as for the various drills. Visit www.eteamz.com/xtremerunningcamp or call 973-362-8006 for more information and registration.