100 Mile Club® is a program developed over 27 years and has specific and clear guidelines and structure.
100 Mile Club does not support the counting of laps/miles completed with parents at home via privately completed mileage logs, tracking apps, during sports practices, etc… 100 Mile Club® is a TEAM at school. We don’t want to marginalize anyone because they do not have the ability to join an outside sport. We need to keep everyone’s experience and journey as consistent as possible, and we cannot do this if kids are given “free” miles, miles at home, for soccer practice, football, or other sports to which some children have zero access. This is our position after 27 years of experience…
OUR MISSION STATEMENT:
The 100 Mile Club® provides the opportunity to run or walk 100 miles at school during a single school year which improves school readiness to learn, creates better education outcomes, building self-esteem and the overall health in the lives of children and others.
The words AT SCHOOL truly help us focus our vision and clearly state that miles completed must be done at school or at local COMMUNITY events where there is equal access for ALL. Ask yourself this: If a child came to your community for a visit, or a sibling from another school was ALSO doing 100 Mile Club®, how would we keep the journey consistent? Would he or she feel connected to 100 Mile Club® or excluded from something you are doing privately at YOUR site?
How do we include ALL kids in this nationwide journey to 100 miles? How do we provide structure and maintain consistency of mission, vision, spirit, intention, journey, incentives, team, community, unity?
100 Mile Club® is about taking a journey to 100 miles…TOGETHER. Miles completed are at school or at local sanctioned community events where EVERYONE is invited.
But what about running at hoooome? Our kids WANT to run with their families!! Our kids neeeeed to keep up their endurance over break!! They are motivated!
I can’t deny them their miles!
Actually you can…because 100 Mile Club® is a program.
There is clear philosophical and physical structure to the 100 Mile Club. There are guidelines, rules, incentives, and a mission statement in the 100 Mile Club®. Every decision we make is based on the idea that we are all in this together and what one person does affects us all. We are global. We are creating a consistency of mission onto which our schools, districts, communities, coaches, and teachers can hang their hats.
Kids can run with their families at home all they want – we think that’s awesome! They can keep up their endurance at home, they can run and race and do all of these things…but it doesn’t count toward their 100 UNLESS they are at a sanctioned community event or at school. (It would be like not going to a community 5K after signing up and then calling the Race Director and demanding your medal because you ran at home around the block 3 times and that is 3.1 miles. It just doesn’t make sense.)
To be perfectly honest, kids shouldn’t NEED the extra miles at home. They should be able to make 100 miles at school with their team and enhance their experience with other 100 Mile Club® participants at local INCLUSIVE community events.
It is that simple.
If you are participating in 100 Mile Club as a school district or if your school is part of a school district that is doing 100 Mile Club®, please keep your vision wide. What you do at your school will affect the entire community. You are not functioning alone. You are part of a bigger team. Adding special privileges for one school (ex- mileage logs for vacation) will open up a huge HUGE can of worms. Trust us on this. We speak from 26 years of experience.
The 100 Mile Club® is an at school and community-based program, and allowing for extra miles for some while others do not get the same EQUAL opportunity truly cheapens the process and will dilute and eventually destroy the program.
100 Mile Club® provides consistency of journey, experience, mission, vision, and philosophy.
We are consistency across classrooms, schools, districts, states, regions, and country…
Our students experience this journey TOGETHER.
We are a team.
THAT is the magic of 100 Mile Club®.
