Joe Hanning, the marketing and outreach coordinator for Roanoke City Parks and Recreation, is hoping that the third incarnation of the Roanoke 100 Miler can top last year, when 1200 people signed up and pledges to walk, run, bike or even exercise 100 miles or more between January 7th and April 15th. Hanning calls the 100 Miler a “community active living campaign…completely human powered.”
If you want to “brave the waters [in the winter] you can even paddle it,” said Hanning, who also notes that each 20 minutes of vigorous exercise counts as one mile towards the 100 or more goal. Many find that they have totaled 200, 300 miles or more by the April 15 deadline; those who sign up on line at roanoke100miler.com will also find a tally sheet they can use to record their miles. There’s a T-shirt and a wrap-up picnic for all those that take part. It costs 19 dollars to sign up; a lower price is available for those that want to skip the T-shirt.
“We call it a New Year’s revolution, not a resolution,” noted Hanning, who did some research and found out that most people do not follow through on resolutions. The original idea behind the 100 Miler was to get Roanokers off the couch during the winter months and get them outside. “We really want people to finish this [and] we motivate people along the way.”
That motivation includes weekly e-mails with tips on where to walk, hike or run, from the fictional mascot “Active Andy,” a stick figure on the run created by Hanning, an Ohio native drawn to the valley with his family in large part because of outdoor amenities like Carvins Cove. There are also prizes and activities weekly. “Our goal is to not just get you signed up but motivate you.”
The original goal two years the target was 150 participants – but almost 850 signed up. The 100 Miler has been a winner ever since. Many would have been out running, walking or hiking anyway but at the first two wrap-up picnics there were plenty of tales of people who for the first time in many years were motivated to get outdoors and be active. Some lost a good deal of weight along the way. Don’t fret if you can’t reach the 100-mile mark – Hanning says it’s the effort that counts.
“We just want to get people out and active during the winter months.” One way to earn some of those 100 miles: the Wazupwidis? 5K urban race through downtown Roanoke that comes up in February. It runs through parking garages and even up the Wells Fargo tower to the 20th floor. Roanoke Parks and Recreation is partnering with Mountain Junkies on Wasupwidis, as in what’s up with this?, certainly one of the more unusual races of the year.
“We played around with that idea for over a year,” said Hanning, “everyone who did it [in 2013, almost 300] loved it.” The race route also goes through the train yard at the Virginia Museum of Transportation. See Mountainjunkies.net to sign up for Wazupwidis? – one very novel way to click off some of the miles towards the Roanoke 100 Miler goal.
By Gene Marrano
