52 Weeks Of Trying New Things – Week 17 – NC State Parks – 100 Mile Challenge

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Happy New Year, friends!  I hope 2019 has started off well for you.  To motivate myself to be more active this year, I signed up for the NC 100 mile challenge with NC State Parks.  The goal is to walk, run, hike, paddle, and/or bike 100 miles of their trails during the calendar year (they encourage you to complete the miles in their parks, but also allow you to log miles completed elsewhere).  You can log your miles to earn digital badges and prizes like stickers, bumper stickers, t-shirts, and coupons for Great Outdoor Provision Company.  I love the outdoors, so I’m looking forward to exploring as many new parks as possible this year.  We just logged our first 4 miles this weekend and are planning to go visit a few new parks over the MLK weekend later this month.

Look at all the fun badges you can collect!   There are many more not pictured and plenty of parks that I’ve never heard of, so I’m curious to see which one will be my favorite.  What a great motivator to be active while also exploring this beautiful state.  The NC 100 miles website lets you add a “buddy” for your miles, which can be a child or a pet, so I like that the whole family can get in on the action!  I already added our dog as my buddy, and my husband has his own account.  NC State Parks also has a Passport Program that anyone with kids should look into!

Interested in this challenge but don’t live in NC?  There are similar challenges in most of the US state parks, so check out what’s going on near you.  Need some good quality shoes for hiking or walking/running?  Check out the Under Armour Speedform Gemini 2.  It’s the most comfortable shoe I’ve owned!

Here’s to a fun and active year of exploring!  Thanks for reading!

Emily