It’s been an amazing year for the 100 Alabama Miles Challenge, and we thought we’d do a little recap for your enjoyment.
First of all, THANK YOU to everyone who participated in the 2019 season of 100 Alabama Miles Challenge! This initiative doesn’t exist without the participants and all the miles they log across the corners of our state. So pat yourself on the back, because YOU are the real winners!
A huge congratulations to everyone that completed 100 miles during the year. We’ve had nearly 4,000 participants taking part in the Challenge since 2019. Good job to each of you—you should be proud of yourself!
This year, we topped 100,000 total miles logged since the program started in May 2018. That’s a lot of miles! That mileage equals the same as running from the top of the state to the bottom almost 350 times! So, we have a new challenge for all of you for 2020. Let’s see if we can get to 200,000 miles by next December 31st. We think you can do it!
A massive THANK YOU to the “faces” of our initiative, our awesome Ambassadors! They are the ones that truly spread the word about the importance of getting out there and being active in our beautiful state. Thank you to Jerri Haslem, Eric Thomas, Robbie Gibbons, Olivia Affuso, and Bob Lujano for all your hard work!
Initiatives such as this need the backing and support of other organizations and companies in order to survive and thrive. We really want to send a loud THANK YOU to the 2019 Sponsors of the Challenge. Let’s hear it for Alabama Trails Foundation, Lakeshore, The University of Alabama Center for Economic Development, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, AdventureKEEN, Mountain High Outfitters, Governor’s Commission on Physical Fitness and Sports, and Surgical Association of Mobile, P.A. We couldn’t do it without you!
There are still a couple more days left in the year, so if you are close to completing the challenge, keep pushing! We know you can close out 2019 strong.
Your miles reset at the stroke of midnight on January 1, and we will officially kick off the 2020 season on Saturday, March 14. So, we invite you to get a jump start on 2020 by getting some miles in over the New Year. And be on the lookout for our kickoff event in March. We also have some exciting program enhancements in 2020, so stay tuned for those announcements!
One final THANK YOU to each and every one of you for the commitment and desire you’ve shown in 2019 to make the 100 Alabama Miles Challenge a huge success. We will see you on the roads/trails/lanes/waterways in 2020!
Greg Wingo is the manager of the 100 Alabama Miles Challenge Ambassador Program and owner of ROAM Projects, a destination trail consulting company.