Getting Started
Peak Performance Running is a year-round running program based in the foothills of Golden, Colorado serving athletes of all abilities levels from ages 8-18. Peak provides a full-service program for performance athletes and beginners with a focus on fundamentals and basics. Our summer sessions are focused on racing track and preparing for the USATF Junior Olympic Cross Country Season, Middle School & High School XC seasons. Our winter programs are geared towards speed and power development for winter indoor track and spring outdoor track. Since 2017 we’ve graduated 40+ athletes into collegiate running programs, produced 4 athletes on Team USA world & national teams, and 25+ Cross Country All-Americans.
Juniors Team (8-14 years)
This is the team where athletes explore their interest in the sport. Within this team different groups form based on ability. Athletes entering the Juniors team often have a drive to compete and are encouraged to race in local 5K’s and Junior Olympic cross country and track races.
How our teams are structured
Our teams are based on an athlete’s abilities and maturity. We list a rough age range for each group but believe that our teams are best viewed as fluid. This allows the athlete to work on a team that fits their fitness level.
High School DistanceTeam (14-18 yrs)
The High School Distance program is the home for athletes between seasons. Providing prep programs for Spring Track and Summer prep for Cross Country Season. Athletes in this program range from new first-time runners to experienced athletes looking to improve and become a front runner on their team.
PEAK SPEED (60m-400m Athletes)
The PEAK SPEED program is for focused athletes 8th-12th grade who have a desire to grow and hone their skills as sprinters. This program runs every season but the spring track season. It provides a home for sprinters in the front range who are looking to take a true focus on being a sprinter. This program offers a combination of coached track practices and days in the weight room.
Peak Elite (HS Only)
Peak Elite is a team focused on performance at the highest level. Peak Elite is Peak Performance Running’s highest performance program designed specifically for athletes who have a desire to compete at the state, national, and world level. Athletes on Peak Elite are current freshman through senior year high school athletes who have the right mix of character and capability. This team requires athletes hit the time standards for PEAK ELITE and complete an application.
WHAT OUR PRACTICES LOOK LIKE
A Quick Note
Our practices are always optional. We understand that many of our athletes are dual-sport athletes. If you are a prospective athlete – we offer our first 2 practices for free so athletes can determine if our team is a fit before they commit.
Strength Training
We believe that there are 2 components to building confident, strong runners – running regular mileage and strength training. We start strength training with our Junior athletes (10 years and older) with 1 day per week and 1 focused speed workout per week. As the athletes advance teams they will strength train 2x/ week and have 2 structured speed workouts/ week. Our youngest athletes start with bodyweight exercises to teach body awareness, mobility, and confidence. Athletes in High School program will be introduced to Olympic lifting movements as they progress.
Trail Days
We do our best to coordinate team schedules to meet at the same location and break into their respective groups. This allows for siblings of different ages to participate at the same time. Practices average 60 minutes with High School team occasionally extending to 75 minutes. We believe that trail running allows our athletes the best of both worlds with soft surfaces, challenging hills and descents, and an opportunity to truly experience our great front range trails in their full beauty. As a team that practices year-round we practice in all weather conditions – we will cancel in the event of lightning and extreme cold/ heat. We get wet in summer showers, snowed on in the winter, and sweat it out in the summer – we believe that there is no such thing as “bad weather” just bad clothing. We ask that athletes have a handheld water bottle in the summer as the temperature can still climb into the mid-80’s in the morning.
Workouts
At the earliest level, these practices are centered around increasing their ability to run faster for longer while mixing in games and relays. As athletes advance to more specific goals in our Junior & High School teams we integrate a progressive structure around hill work, tempo runs, and track intervals. Our workouts are designed to allow athletes to personalize their training to their specific racing goals. Coaches will break athletes into groups based on their goals to race middle distance and long-distance during track season as well as grouping athletes by ability during the cross country season.
How to Sign up
To register for our team please refer to the individual team pages. There you will find program options by season.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
My athlete is a beginner but I am worried they will be too slow for the Juniors group.
Our Juniors group has a variety of abilities and ages. We have two coaches who manage that group so no matter what your athlete’s ability we promise there will be another athlete of the same speed and coach to help them out, especially on that first day.
I see your season already started is it too late to join?
We welcome athletes at any point in the season. Please reach out to us and we can offer a pro-rated amount.
Are there attendance requirements?
We offer options for athletes to attend between one and four days per week for the Juniors program. This provides families with the flexibility to come and go as needed since we work with several athletes who focus on soccer, volleyball, basketball, etc. Their schedules don’t allow them to come every day and we don’t have any attendance requirements. We just welcome athletes whenever they are able to join us and have the one day a week option in place for our Juniors team for just those instances.
For the HS program we only offer the full program commitment.
Does my athlete have to have experience?
No, we welcome athletes of any ability to our team. We love showing new athletes this great sport and fostering their love of it. Athletes are not required to race to be part of our team.
How many miles does the Juniors team run?
The Juniors team typically runs 2-5 miles at each practice. Your athlete should not be intimidated by this. This is over an hour time period so it includes a lot of breaks. There are different groups that form within this team so if your athlete is new they will probably be on the lower end of this range and working with a coach and with athletes of a similar ability.