Sometimes it Just Takes a Friend

How many times do we get to know exactly what our children are thinking, how they feel, what makes them tick??

On the day of 100 Mile Club Medal Ceremonies last June at McKinley Elementary School in Corona, CA, it was quietly and subtly mentioned that SOMEONE IN THE ROOM broke the secret 100 Mile Club record of 221 miles.

No names were mentioned, we just stated that the Magic Number (aka 221 miles) was passed by someone.


Two kids shattered the secret record last June. Doesn't matter who they are. They know who they are, and the pride they feel is no match for a trophy or plaque or extra medal.

Read on and you might figure out who they are, too.

So. Why is a name never officially associated with the most miles completed within a chapter? Well, remember...according to our Mission and Philosophy:

• The 100 Mile Club is a personal journey toward a very personal goal.


• It is not a race with anyone but yourself.


• We NEVER compare students.


• We never race or compete between classes or students to see who makes 100 miles “first”.


• 100 Mile Club is not an external competition. The competition is with your biggest rival: Yourself.


• The personal successes students feel while on the 100 Mile Club journey are unquantifiable but ever-present. We celebrate those most of all.


• 100 Mile Club encourages team spirit by asking students to work together to help one another reach their goals. Often, we see the more athletic students encouraging and mentoring those that might need that little extra boost…it is wonderful to see students cheer for each other or run together to just make it one more lap.
  

The friends pictured below worked side by side to meet and exceed their own personal goals. Sure there was a healthy dose of competition. It's what drives us all.

And they all made it.

And they did it together. One mile at a time.

And at the end of the year, they celebrated together.

Each one of these students felt responsible not only for their own success but for the success of their classmates.

Their teammates.

Their friends.

Chad (center), and Celia (front) forged a unique partnership and friendship over the course of the year. Their classmates (surrounding them) were right there, mile after mile after mile. Truly an inspiration.

Trust me when I say that I am no easy sell on whether my 100 Mile Club kids truly internalize and display the lifeskills we ask for during the year. I ask a lot. My expectations are WAY high.

These kids truly lived every block of Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success. That is no easy task.

Industriousness, Enthusiasm, Friendship, Loyalty, Cooperation...all the way up to Poise and Confidence and even achieveing Coach's Definition of Success: Being at your best when your best is needed and enjoying a difficult challenge.

They did it.

It is rare that we get to hear the true and unedited thoughts of one of our 100 Mile Club participants.

This entry is from one of the students in this class, Mr. Chad Mackie:

The 100 Mile Club Champion

by Chad Mackie, 2008

“GO! GO! GO!” My class shouted to me as I finished my last lap of the school year. My entire class was cheering me on, but not always. I would like to talk about how I ran 242 miles during my 5th grade year with the help of my friend Celia Halpin. Celia was always there cheering me on, teaching me that a good trusted friend is the biggest necessity of all.

The 100 Mile Club is a program that lets students run during the school day and kids try to reach 100 miles by the end of the year. In fourth grade our class would always watch the other sixth grade classes go out and run around the field. We wanted to run, and why we couldn’t, I didn’t know. Three fourths into the year our teacher let us start running. By the end of the year, I only reached 28 miles, because I chose to walk the laps instead of run.

But in fifth grade, well, that is a whole different and much better story.

My fifth grade year we got an awesome teacher. She was a very big 100 Mile Club fan and let us run every day for 9-10 minutes and for some reason I decided to run. But when I say run, I mean run, full on run. I would run with Celia, side by side, lap by lap. Only an injury would keep me from running with Celia.

One kid was a really fast runner and he was about 4 miles ahead of me. But I wanted to have more miles than everyone, not to brag at the end of the year, but to have a big goal and try to achieve it. I also went to the Walk for Health, which gave me only an extra three miles.

We began to notice, but our teacher finally told us, she was pregnant! This meant no teacher. It also meant a permanent sub. Luckily, the sub was awesome too, she let us run for 13 minutes every day! I was running more than two miles every day. So was Celia.

Believe it or not there was still another problem. That kid was still ahead of me.

Half of the year went by and I reached 100 miles. When I had about one hundred and fifty miles there was a fundraiser, The Walk for Kids. I could run for four hours. This would be awesome! I could catch up to the kid that was ahead of me, or even pass him! I was late to the fund raiser which embarrassed me. I was behind all of the other kids and knew I had to run my heart out to catch up. Thank goodness, the kid that had 4 more miles than me had a baseball game and was not there. Eventually, after running 10 miles I decided to stop. But when I heard they were doubling your laps, of course I was back on the track. By the end of the day I ran 13 miles. I was definitely ahead of the kid who now was 9 miles behind me.

Back at school, Celia and I kept running. When I reached 200 miles I thought “I have to stop running. I am torn down, I am tired, and I cannot keep this up with this pace.’’ I only had 3 weeks until the cutoffs so I started to walk. But then I heard that the school record was 222 miles.

I thought, “Well I am probably never going to get this close to the record again, my name could go down in history, I only have to run 23 miles in three weeks. Wait, what am I thinking? Hello, earth to Chad! That means at least 23 miles in 3 weeks. It’s impossible!”

Celia thought I could.

She did the calculations and was sure I could accomplish my goal. Her positive words inspired me to continue running. She pushed me when I was tired and encouraged me to give it my all. When we were running together we didn’t talk. Yet Celia’s loyalty and encouragement were obvious to me. She ran by my side every day.

As the cut off was growing nearer I was getting more miles. I was running so hard that by the end of the day I felt like I was going to die. My muscles ached and my lungs burned. But I kept running, with Celia by my side.

The moment I reached the last lap of the two hundred and twenty-third mile, I was overjoyed. I could not believe I had actually done it. I broke the school record. But that still wasn’t enough. I decided I needed to beat the school record by a lot more than one mile if I wanted to be remembered. So I still kept running side by side, lap by lap with Celia. By the end of the year I reached 242 miles!

I was a school champ, only because of Celia.

To sum it up, that year was great. A runner’s dream, my dream, came true that year. I ended up having a five minute fifty two second mile, and I made the track team because of Celia’s support. Not only did this experience show me that a friend could help me run two hundred and forty-two miles, but that a friend can encourage you to do things that have a positive effect instead of a negative effect.

Everyone needs a friend that can be a positive influence, help you through tough times, help you to make correct choices and cheer you on in your journey.

Sometimes it just takes a friend to make it through the race of life successfully.

(Not) The End

Using What You Have: Taking 100 Mile Club to Families and the Community

The Longfellow HEARTS 100 Mile Club® chapter in Riverside, California, led by superstar Coach Shayna Golbaf, is reaching out to its families and community members by using its assets...in this case, a stunning mountain located smack dab in the middle of town.

Read on to see how the 100 Mile Club kids, families, and teachers earned miles (and SO much more) on a beautiful Saturday morning in December...

Integrating 100 Mile Club with Families and our Community

by Shayna Golbaf, 100 Mile Club Head Coach

Longfellow Elementary H.E.A.R.T.S.

How can you bring families and the community together through 100 Mile Club? Many of us witness the success of 100 Mile Club in our school, but how do we take it to the next level?

If the community wouldn’t come to us, then we would take it to them through an experiment labeled Family Fieldtrips!

Part of the goal of 100 Mile Club is to promote a healthy lifestyle and give students an attainable goal outside of regular academics. My goal for Family Fieldtrips was to promote a healthy lifestyle through a free activity that could be done while bonding as a family and community. Luckily, Riverside has just the spot to incorporate all these things:

Mount Rubidoux.

With Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks approaching, I knew that students would have less time to run toward their 100 miles. Therefore, I planned our first Family Fieldtrip for the first Saturday in December. Excited about this new idea, I quickly made flyers and began promoting.

It quickly came to my attention that December 6th was not only an important day for us, but many others. It was the day Catholics in Riverside honored the Virgin of Guadalupe with a pilgrimage to the top of Mount Rubidoux.

Just my luck! The one day of the year that I chose to begin our Family Fieldtrip was the same day that literally thousands of others would be joining us for our three-mile hike up Mount Rubidoux! I was apprehensive and considered changing our fieldtrip to a later date, but decided against it. I truly did not understand the size of the celebration we would soon encounter.

The day had come and I was open-minded as I attempted to project the success of my experimental fieldtrip. As I began to climb to our meeting spot, I second-guessed myself as my eyes greeted the crowded paths on the mountain. Through the stream of people I recognized two eager students who were 40 minutes early for our endeavor. As time began to pass, more students immerged amongst the worshipers. George Flower, a community member from Friends of Mount Rubidoux, presented students with buttons and Kara Lubin, founder of The 100 Mile Club, motivated students for the climb.

The sound of drums filled our ears, and one parent advised that we start our hike before the procession arrived. “It hasn’t even started?!” I thought in a panic as I pictured the groups who had already passed us. Quickly we broke off into two groups and began our journey up the mountain. We were surrounded by other community members with thousands more on our trail.
Reaching the top and not to resist any photo opportunities, we stalled at the summit while our barricade quickly closed in.

Without realization or intention we just became part of the parade!

Our family fieldtrip had morphed into a cultural plunge for all of us. Our eyes were opened to a sacred ceremony filled with passionate singing, dancing, music, and praying. Southern and Central American countries raised their flags high, and our students, by pure dumb luck, were right in the front row.

Needless to say, we earned our miles, but we also gained so much more. I couldn’t have planned it better, and no other Family Fieldtrip will ever come close to the experiences we gained that day.

As we walked down the mountain and away from the ceremony, parents and students reflected on all the subjects touched on during this event. Physical fitness was the obvious, but social studies and geography were also mentioned. Geology was touched on using the multitude of different rocks. Sociology was referred to by one parent due to the different cultures represented.

My personal favorite was when one student proclaimed, “and we bonded together!” Families, students, and parents all found a commonality through tackling the mountain. We planned another hike for the following week, this time with a picnic at the top.

The 100 Mile Club® is more than running. It is about bringing people together through passion, motivation, encouragement, and community.

All of this and so much more was discovered and accomplished as we ventured out and introduced the 100 Mile Club® to our community.

Welcome, Riverside!! We are humbled and honored to have you with us. Welcome to The 100 Mile Club!

:)

100 Mile Club: Vail Ranch Middle School Represents!!

The 100 Mile Club is committed to celebrating personal success in all forms, and Vail Ranch Middle School in Temecula, California has taken The 100 Mile Club mission and philosophy to a new level.

In an inspired twist on cross-country team competition, Steve White, 100 Mile Club Head Coach at Vail Ranch, forms his teams in a unique way---he takes whoever wants to go. If you get your permission slip signed, you run.

No matter what.

When Mr. White came to us and said that after all his years of coaching, he wanted to coach a team that would be all inclusive, we knew he was a perfect fit.

200+ kids later, his team is running strong.

No tryouts. No time trials. No cuts.

Read his update below:

Vail Ranch Middle School Represents 100 Mile Club

by Coach White, Vail Ranch Middle School

Temecula, CA

Thanks for the 100 Mile Club Program-It Works!!!

In only their first year of competition, Vail Ranch Middle School in Temecula, showed it's depth by taking 80 athletes and winning back to back invitationals in Menifee and Hemet. In two meets this year, Vail Ranch raced to three overall team titles, four division championships and two runner-up awards, and countless medals in their first year of competition.



Our schools success can be contributed to the 100 Mile Club which provides the possibility for all students to succeed. Students get the chance accomplish individual and group goals. In my 20+ years of coaching, I've never seen a program that brings so many students together.

Presently, VRMS 100 Mile Club has 218 members and 45-50 of those run in the morning on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Thanks for making my job so enjoyable, just seeing the students smile and show so much commitment to exercise.

Can't Thank You Enough!

Steve White
Vail Ranch Middle School-Temecula

P.S. I think some of the students sleep in their shirts-they are so proud of their accomplishment.

This is what it's all about. Thanks for the update, Coach White. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Enjoy your weekend. :)

~Ms. Lubin

SBA Completes its First Fun Run

Recently I had the distinct honor of attending one of our 100 Mile Club chapter Family Fun Runs.

Susan B. Anthony Elementary School ran and walked literally hundreds of miles in just one evening! SBA is one of our first-year chapters. They hosted their very first Family Fun Run on a beautiful Autumn evening. Take a look at the spectacular runners, walkers, and coaches out there encouraging fitness and celebrating this lovely evening! This school has hit the ground running (pun tooootally intended), and their first family night was a screaming success.

Kids, moms, dads, grandparents, and even a couple of doggies circled their field for hours, collecting miles lap by lap. The sun began to drop below the horizon, and still they ran... Some even enjoyed completing a little art project as they walked. Below, the precise pink and green checkerboard pattern grew as the night went on.

Darkness fell, but that didn't stop the determined ones: Out came the flashlights! And the glowsticks!! And glowsticks hooked together to make jumpropes! And lanterns! And even a dad who skateboarded across the blacktop standing on his hands! I was impressed! The kids wouldn't stop!

We heard this more times than we could count: Just one more lap, Mom. I'm almost done. PLEASE!

The kids had goals to meet, miles to run, sticks to earn. I couldn't help but smile.

At the end of the evening, the fabulous SBA Head Coaches gathered lap sticks and tallied miles with precision, patience, and enthusiasm. (Did I mention patience?) Their kids were serious about getting those miles counted! (I loved it!! )

What an evening. Thank you SBA for inviting me to your very first Family Fun Run. I was humbled by your enthusiasm and hard work, and was honored to have been able to attend. I know your families loved it, too. :) Great GREAT job!!

(OH HEY! Who won the hoodie? What about the hat??)

Family Fitness!

Isn't this cute?! ? I stumbled upon this website a week or so ago and was completely charmed with its enthusiasm for kids and their families. As I browsed around, I decided that my 100 Mile ClubTM families could really benefit from the recipies, games, and activities located throughout the website.

Shortly after my journey through Family Fitness Coach.com, I did what I always love to do...I clicked the CONTACT US page, and went straight to the source. I wanted to see if the person behind the site was as much of a match for us as I thought she might be. I then had the honor of meeting and chatting with the Family Fitness Coach herself: Tracy Glenn, a parent and family health advocate just like us. What a delightful conversation we had! We talked about 100 Mile Club, her vision for kids and their families, and how we might work together.


Turns out she is in Wisconsin...down south in the Milwakee area. We do have a school up in Superior, sooooo I'm hoping they can come together some time and help their families stay happy and fit throughout the year. For now, though, we have sent her some literature and information about beginning a Family Fitness Coach 100 Mile Club Chapter right there in The Badger State.

...or The Dairy State, a more fitting name according to more than one source...even their license plates say America's Dairyland. Did you know that Wisconsin means "grassy place" in the Chippewa language?


Anyway. I digress. (See what happens when I start Googling??)


Back to Tracy and her spectacular vision for families:

FamilyFitnessCoach.com has recipes, games, and family activities for all families, links to sites for even more recipes and games, local fun runs and festivals, and now a link to 100 Mile Club, too!! Take a look, and look for more partnerships with 100 MIle Club and Family Fitness Coach in the coming months! WOOHOO!

Welcome to our schools so far!!

Challenge Accepted.
2008-09

We know it's not easy making this project happen at your schools. Money is tight, but you all know how important this project is to our kids, and because of this...spirits are high!!

Thank you, coaches, teachers, principals, students, and friends, for truly Accepting the Challenge. Together we can all help one another achieve our goals and true personal success through participation in The 100 Mile Club.

You rock!

(...It's never too late to sign up!! Visit http://www.100mileclub.com/ to join the 100 Mile ClubTM project.)

The following chapters are off and running (or walking):

Alcott Elementary, RUSD
Cesar Chavez Elementary, CNUSD
Clara Barton Elementary School, CNUSD
Corona Fundamental Intermediate School, CNUSD
Corona Ranch Elementary, CNUSD
Davidson Elementary, SBUSD
Eisenhower Elementary School, CNUSD
El Cerrito Middle School, CNUSD
Jefferson Elementary School, CNUSD
John W. Stallings Elementary School, CNUSD
McKinley PTA, CNUSD
Morrow Elementary School, Morrow, LA**

Neuman Elementary School, CVUSD
Peppermint Ridge, Corona, CA
Prado View Elementary School, CNUSD
Rosa Parks Elementary School, CNUSD
Sierra Vista Elementary School, CNUSD

Susan B. Anthony Elementary School, CNUSD
Temescal Valley Elementary School, CNUSD
Todd Elementary School, CNUSD
Vail Ranch Middle School, TVUSD
Vicentia Elementary School, CNUSD
Washington Elementary, CNUSD
Westside Christian Academy, Sumter, SC
William McKinley Elementary School, CNUSD

**On behalf of all of our 100 Mile ClubTM runners and walkers, our thoughts and wishes for safety and peace go out to our friends in Morrow, Lousiana tonight and every night through this hurricane and afterward.

Love,

Ms. Lubin~

100 Mile Club and Ryan Hall

Our student representatives presented Ryan with an honorary 100 Mile Club Medal. There are only 2 honorary 100 Mile Club medal recipients:

John R. Wooden and now, Ryan Hall.

Just so you know where I am: I am sitting at the American Sports Center, a place with...wait let me count...12! basketball courts in one big space, while my son is playing some sort of strange 2 on 1 pickup game. It is HOT in here so I am set up right by the hallway, which for some reason is the only air conditioned part of the building. This is what I do. I steal moments to get things done. Today, I am honoring the Gym Rat in my son and getting this blog updated.

So.

The Ryan Hall Sendoff in Big Bear was spectacular! After 2 busy weeks, I am finally able to sit down and tell the story of our fabulous Monday afternoon in Big Bear, California, where The 100 Mile ClubTM made a difference. August 4th, 2008 was a really good day.

Somehow, we all managed to get out of Corona on time: 15 people packed into 3 cars. We drove caravan style, traffic-free, straight up to Big Bear. We arrived there at about 4:15 or so, right on time and nobody got car sick. Truly a Miracle.

We were treated like royalty from the minute we arrived. All of us. We were graciously seated right up front, right behind the Hall family Our student representatives were able to sit on a blanket right to our side. They could see everything perfectly.

Our student reps were Braden and Macade Walker, George Hartman, Lucille and Henry Lubin Richmond, and Paris Lubin Gonsalves. They all represented 100 Mile ClubTM beautifully.

The athletic field we were on was the place where Ryan ran his very first mile back in middle school...what a journey! The kids at the sendoff, HUNDREDS OF THEM, from age four (maybe younger) through at least high school all did a lap around the track together in the spirit of the day. Everyone ran with such enthusiasm, yet so carefully...taking care of the little ones, making sure to honor everyone's desire to do their lap at their own pace. I saw high school cross country runners holding the hands of toddlers as they made their way around the quarter-mile lap.


Then...miles and good wishes were presented to a very humble Olympic favorite: Ryan Hall.

The city of Big Bear was out in full force, with over 1/3 of the city's population gathering on the field to give good wishes, miles, and love to their hometown hero.

The Lighthouse Project's Move a Million Miles for Ryan Hall campaign was what brought us to Big Bear. The Lighthouse Project developed the idea to get Big Bear moving in support of Hall. The idea was simply to move in support of Ryan. All human-powered miles were eligible. People walked, ran, biked, hiked, kayaked, climbed mountains and jumped on treadmills to show their support.

Move a Million Miles for Ryan Hall wasn’t a fund-raiser...in fact, it probably would have been easier for people to comprehend if it were.

I can't tell you how many times I was asked Donate our miles? Well, ok. How much is it?

When I answered, Nothing. It's just like sending "good vibes" to Ryan simply by moving, people would look at me like I was somehow missing something.

Nope, I would say, that's it. Just move.

A few 100 Mile Club kids even thought that they would have to literally turn in their miles and miss out on getting their own 100 Mile ClubTM Medal at the end of the year...and they were willing to do it! When I told them they didn't actually have to give up their miles or their medal to donate miles to Ryan...They were THRILLED!

Little by little, 100 Mile Club students, parents, and schools "got it", jumped on board, and logged those miles!

This was simply a way for us to do our part to support Big Bear’s own Olympian. The youngest mover in Big Bear was 1 year old, the oldest, 98. What a feat!

The Move A Million Miles Campaign was one that was incredibly easy for 100 Mile ClubTM to support. We collected and donated the miles we logged between January and June from most of our 16 participating schools. We don't have money, but we sure have miles!! Thanks to Beth Gardner and The Lighthouse Project for allowing us to participate n theis project. :)

The 100 Mile ClubTM students logged their miles from January to June in honor of Ryan Hall, contributing...

307,724.03 miles!!

...to the Move a Million Miles campaign. YAY!!

The "check" the students are holding below is our donation of miles...the banner below the kids is the final mile total, INCLUDING our miles!

The ceremony ended with a heartfelt and inspiring speech by Ryan to the residents of the city who had gathered in support of him. His level of poise and humility were ever-present, yet one could not deny the fact that Ryan was mentally and physically ready to head to Beijing to win.


I hope that Ryan knows that he has inspired thousands of children to give their best, follow their dreams, and never give up...in their eyes he is already a gold medal winner. Good luck, Ryan. We'll be watching.

August 24th, 2008.

Run, Ryan, Run!

Move a Million Miles? No problem! We're on it!

PHOTO: David McGrath/Getty Images

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/olympics_blog/2008/07/big-bear-plans.html?cid=124819192#comments

Our donated miles could very well put Ryan way over the 1,000,000 mile mark AT the pep rally on August 4th in Big Bear!! We are personally presenting Ryan with a “check” for an outrageous number of miles on that day.

(Some people know the actual number, but we need to keep it a surprise for Ryan and and his friends in Big Bear...so shhhh. :)

Thanks to all of you who sent your miles to Ryan through The 100 Mile Club™!

If you are off-track or otherwise available and are interested in attending, check out details on our website (http://www.100mileclub.com/) or at http://www.moveamillionmilesforryanhall.com/ .

WELCOME to Corona Ranch Elementary!!!

See you soon!

We got a Poem!!

I first heard Mr. Dennis Akren's poetry when a colleague, Mrs. Rice (and her class) recited one at a rehearsal for our end of year assembly. I was thoroughly impressed! Secretly, though, I was wishing for someone to write a poem about 100 Mile Club...Now LOOK!

In my email box on a random Thursday, on a day where I was physically and mentally EXHAUSTED and up to my ears in packaging materials for schools, I was wondering if this was all worth it. And there was this poem in my inbox.

And it made. my. day. Thank you so much, Dennis.

Hello Kara,

I am a PE teacher at CFIS, and I have admired your efforts to help keep our kids focused and healthy. I wrote this poem about the 100 mile club. Hope you enjoy.... read on.... let me know what you think...

smiles, D


THE 100 MILE CLUB


It doesn't even matter, if you walk or run....
When you join "The 100 Mile Club", you're sure to have some fun!

The challenge is to run 100 miles, over the course of the year...
When you accomplish this goal, folks all around will cheer!

You'll experience true personal success, it'll make you wanna holler....
You're doing something good, so you'll stand a little taller!

It's only about 3 miles per week, and it's a safe physical activity....
Encouraging kids to be active, which reduces childhood obesity!

The benefits are many, it will improve your health...
It's doable for everyone, in groups or by yourself!

It'll become a good habit, another reason to be at school....
This challenge is really a gift, and that alone is rather cool!

You'll feel a sense of achievement, and that feels really nice....
Becoming more confident, is also part of the prize!

You can run before school, or some will run after....
Either way is good medicine, it works as well as laughter!

If you join "The 100 Mile Club",make sure to tell Dad and Mom...
And get more information, at "100mileclub.com"!

So reach for the stars, and stand-out in a crowd....
Stay calm and focused, and feel strong and proud!

Coach A

This project has brought me so much happiness and hopefully I am able to return it in the form of service and inspiration to all who join 100 Mile Club.

Read more of Coach A's poems at http://www.poemsfromthecoach.blogspot.com/ .

~Ms. Lubin

SPECTACULAR Kickoff Assembly at Eastvale

Last week I had the distinct pleasure of attending Eastvale Elementary School's 100 Mile ClubTM kickoff and pep rally. I was beyond honored to be there, and remain in awe of the enthusiasm and energy with which Eastvale has Accepted the Challenge of The 100 Mile ClubTM!

There was dancing, singing, cheering, and laughter! I had a blast and so did my daughter, who overcame her shyness to dance the Cha Cha Slide with hundreds of kids she had never met until that day.

The only words I can use to describe what my daughter and I experienced that day are:

Pure Joy.

Thanks, Eastvale, for sharing your 100 Mile Club kickoff with me.

Now, dust off those running shoes and go for it!

(oh. And I need to come get the banner. We need it for another kickoff down the freeway a ways. I probably should get a few more made, huh?)

:)

Love,

Ms. Lubin~

Hey! Welcome!

Welcome to The Official Blog of The 100 Mile ClubTM! Woohoo!

This is the place where I get to share all that happens throughout the year with the evolution and growth of The 100 Mile ClubTM. Who knows where we'll go! Just like the 100 Mile Club itself, we will go wherever this takes us.

I have told a few people how selfish I feel sometimes that I get to hear so many positive stories and see so many amazing things when I visit schools, read emails, and talk to our 100 Mile Club Head Coaches all over the state (and now the country!). Here's the place where I am able to share what I get to see and experience. It's so fun!!

Now. Here's the nitty-gritty real quick, just so you'll know:

• We're going to be casual. Seriously. No airs will be put on here. I'll learn as I go, so bear with me as we change and improve.

• If you want to submit something here...anything: a story, a thought, whatever...please do so by emailing us at info@100mileclub.com. We want to share all the positive happenings at all of our chapters. We have over 10,000 participants this year, and with that comes over 10,000 stories! Parents, teachers, friends, students...tell us your stories! :)

• The 100 Mile Club is an all volunteer non-profit organization. We are real people who are working extremely hard to bring The 100 Mile Club to as many people as possible. Every cent donated through membership fees, sponsorships, and events stays right here with us and helps us further The 100 Mile ClubTM mission.

The mission of The 100 Mile Club is to provide to all individuals the opportunity to experience the powerful feeling of fitness and TRUE personal success by Accepting the Challenge of running (or walking) 100 miles at school during a single school year.

Our philosophy is simple.

We believe that every single student has the ability to achieve true personal success and a new level of physical fitness by Accepting the Challenge of running (or walking) 100 miles at school or work during a single school year. These feelings of true personal success and fitness are ones that will carry a student to new levels of achievement in all areas: academics, athletics, and implementation of the valuable life skills identified in the blocks of Coach Wooden’s Pyramid of Success.

If you want to know more about the nuts and bolts of The 100 Mile ClubTM, including how to join or volunteer, please visit http://www.100mileclub.com/.

~Kara :)