SLIPPERY ROCK — This trip gave "cross country" a whole different meaning.

The Slippery Rock University men's and women's cross country teams made the 4,000-mile trek to Alaska last month to compete in the Anchorage Invitational.

It was a trip four years in the making.

That's when coach John Papa took his teams to Alaska and wanted to return.

"I was sitting here one day thinking, 'Let's go to Alaska.'" Papa said. "Then I was thinking, 'How the heck are we going to do it?'"

Papa figured it out. He went to Alaska and spent two weeks there ironing out the details and getting the lay of the land.

Four years later, Papa decided to take another team back there.

The Rock, which took 54 athletes to Alaska, won both meets.

"When you travel with any group of people, you definitely develop a bond with them," Papa said. "Kids get to know each other better. They are together 24-7 up there for five to six days."

The journey was an arduous one.

It took three planes to get there and two to get back.

The team left on Aug. 29 and returned on Labor Day, leaving the Anchorage airport at 1 a.m. which was four hours behind Eastern Daylight Time.

"We had a double layover," said SRU sophomore and Slippery Rock High grad Emily Skoczlas. "The trip back was so long and I went 30 hours without sleeping. But it was all worth it."

Members of the team didn't see any of the native wildlife until it came time to run. Moose blocked part of the cross country course.

"We almost ran right into them," Skoczlas said.

"I didn't really know what to expect," she said of the trip. "I didn't know if it was going to snow. But the weather was perfect. It was in the 60- to 65-degree range. And the views were breathtaking."

That's one of the reasons why Papa wants to take a group to Alaska every four years.

"It's a great trip," Papa said. "A lot of these kids have never seen scenery like that; have never seen a glacier. We saw moose and a beluga whale. It was a great trip."