If a young runner in Howard County wanted to train during the off-season, for years he or she was forced to go it alone or independently organize a group with little or no coaching or supervision.

That situation, however, has changed because of Oakland Mills High School cross country coach Phil Lang and former Wilde Lake assistant cross country and track coach Greg MacPhee.

"We realized the biggest problem with our kids is that they don't train over the summer," said MacPhee, who was a backup on Oakland Mills' 1990 state championship cross country team. "The superstars did, but the JV and midlevel varsity kids didn't."

So MacPhee and Lang created the Howard County Junior Striders Summer Training Program last year, the first such program of its kind in the county. The program is linked with the Howard County Striders, one of Maryland's largest and most active running clubs.

It is also the only sustained youth program for youngsters in the sport, although it does not deal with the field events such as jumping and throwing.

But by the end of last summer, 60 kids representing all 10 public high schools in the county were participating.

The program had an immediate national impact, producing an Amateur Athletic Union national Junior Olympics title for a 3,200-meter relay team in its first summer.

The teams member's - River Hill's Shane Stroup, Oakland Mills' Izudin Mehmedovic and Wilde Lake's Greg James and Jason Moore - competed against one another during the season before they joined the Junior Striders.

"Clearly, those kids all have tremendous talent, and they didn't win solely because of the program," MacPhee said. "But we were the impetus for them getting together. The biggest thing we did for the kids was, we set it up where all the best kids from every school can train together. They all get better, because they all push each other."

In its second summer, the Junior Striders has attracted about 40 runners from around the county, a number MacPhee said likely will be about 60 by the end of the summer.

Junior Striders meets every Monday and Thursday at Howard Community College. Participants warm up by jogging around the campus, then stretch, do calisthenics and break into two running groups - one that runs about 3 miles and one that covers 6 to 8 miles.

Each session lasts about 90 minutes, and the runners are mostly of high school age. Some runners heading to college, such as the UMBC-bound Mehmedovic, also participate.

Lang, who has led the Oakland Mills cross country team to three consecutive Class 1A state titles since taking over the school's program in 1999 and who also won a state title as a part of the 1985 Oakland Mills team - joins MacPhee and national-level duathlon competitor Trey Cassidy, headmaster of Glenelg Country School, to provide expert coaching.

Often, the coaches run with the athletes and teach the tricks of the trade en route.

"The coaches are real dedicated, some of the most dedicated in the area," said Centennial senior Leah Suhrstedt. "They don't try to run you in the ground. They want to help you."

Although the Junior Striders do not compete in meets, coaches encourage runners to compete in road races, which members can enter for discounted fees. The biggest benefit is that the program has attracted nearly 100 percent of the county's top cross country athletes.

"It's a good way for the county competitors to push themselves," said Katie Pencek, who will be a sophomore at Glenelg this fall. "Last summer, I ran with my team every day. This is better, because it gives everyone a chance to work harder with people who are more competitive. ... It's hard, but I feel good when I'm done because I know I'm getting better."

Said All-Metro runner Matt Sanders, who will be a senior at Mount Hebron: "Running by yourself, you get bored, you fall off pace and you don't want to do it. But when you run with a group, you're having fun."

One more advantage is friendships.

"It's nice I get to talk with the people I'm usually competing against," Pencek said. "I see them a lot at the meets, and finally I get to know who they are."

David Rogawski, a junior this fall at Hammond, added: "There's definitely camaraderie. I think cross country is a unique sport in that it's very individual. Even during the season when you're competing against others, you're really competing against yourself to get a better time or get a top-10 finish. So during the season, you don't lose friendships or anything like that."