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A Purpose-Driven Racing Calendar

At Wildfires Elite, our race calendar isn’t random. Every meet serves a developmental purpose. Each phase of the year builds intentionally on the one before it—teaching pacing, discipline, and race intelligence step by step.

Early Summer: Establish the Baseline

We begin with two summer 5K races:

  • Heritage Valley 5K

  • Independence Day 5K

These races provide baseline fitness assessments. We don’t force performances—we observe. We learn where each athlete is physically and mentally, and use that information to assign appropriate training paces.

Mid-Summer: Guided Race Execution

The heart of our summer is the CoC Summer Series (5 races).

This is where the teaching happens.

  • Some weeks, coaches pace specific athletes during the race.

  • Other weeks, athletes are assigned a tempo effort and must execute it on their own.

The goal is not all-out racing. The goal is learning to control pace under race conditions. Athletes discover how to stay patient, finish strong, and trust their assignments.​​

Late Summer: Application Without Assistance

We finish the summer with:

  • Pride of the Valley 5K

  • CoC Summer Series Final

By this point, athletes have been coached through weeks of structured pacing. Now they apply what they’ve learned. Coaches are in the race—but they are racing, not pacing. Athletes must manage their effort independently and execute two strong performances on their own.​

Fall: Elevated Training, Higher Performance

In September and October, we move into 4K cross country races:

  • Orange County Grit Invitational

  • Pacific Coast Shockwaves Invitational

These races follow higher-level training sessions designed to peak athletes beyond their summer fitness. The expectation is meaningful improvement—not just maintenance.​

Winter: Track Season & In-Race Coaching

We transition to the track in November, leading into Winter All-Comers meets from December through early February.

Here’s what makes this phase unique:

Coaches can enter the races alongside the athletes and teach pacing in real time. Kids learn how to use splits, track landmarks, and internal effort cues to run controlled, intelligent races.

This is skill development under pressure.

Spring: Independent Youth Competition

The year culminates with youth-focused meets in March and April:

  • Grit Distance Carnival

  • West Coast Shockwave Youth Invitational

At this stage, athletes compete against their peers without coaches pacing them. They rely on everything they’ve learned:

  • Pace awareness

  • Negative splitting

  • Controlled starts

  • Confident finishes

This is where discipline becomes performance.​

Why We Stay Local

You won’t see us chasing meets all over the country.

Many youth programs travel in search of medals, rankings, and national recognition. The result is often what we call over-racing syndrome—too many high-intensity efforts, too much travel stress, and too little recovery. Young bodies break down. Motivation fades. Burnout sets in.

We take a different path.

Most of our meets are local and use Fully Automated Timing (FAT), which means every athlete builds a verified track record of performances over time. They don’t need to travel across the country to prove themselves—they have objective, measurable results right here at home.

More importantly, we think long-term.

We believe it is far superior to develop an athlete who peaks at the end of their high school career than to chase youth awards that don’t translate into future excellence. Think about how many athletes set club, regional, or even national records at 12 or 13—and then you never hear about them again once high school begins.

Burnout is real. Early specialization without restraint is real. Over-racing is real.

Our goal isn’t to produce the fastest 12-year-old in the country.

Our goal is to develop strong, intelligent, durable athletes who are still improving at 17 and 18—and who carry that discipline into college, adulthood, and life.

Development Over a Full Year

Our schedule follows a clear progression:

  1. Assess

  2. Teach

  3. Guide

  4. Elevate

  5. Apply Independently

We don’t chase short-term wins.

©2026 by Wildfires Elite Endurance Club LLC

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