OutGrown

September 2018 HiB30 Challenge Winners – Gold Sponsors

  2. Share
OutGrown Community Member OutGrown Community Member
0 0
We just wrapped up another great Hike it Baby 30 Challenge – the third one of 2018!  We’d like to thank our Hike it Baby Gold Sponsors for the great prizes they provided for September's Hike it Baby 30 (HiB 30) Challenge. The winning participants were entered into the prize drawings simply by signing up to achieve 30 miles in 30 days OR spend 30 minutes outside 3 times per week with their families. Hike it Baby hosts the HiB30 Challenge four times per year. Families from all over the globe come together to challenge themselves and encourage each other, forming a supportive and inspiring community. Over the course of September’s Challenge, 826 families achieved a grand total of 14,055 miles and 842,000 minutes outside. That’s amazing!

THANK YOU TO THESE GOLD SPONSORS FOR HELPING MOTIVATE FAMILIES TO GET OUTSIDE!

Deuter 

OAKI

Babyganics

L.L.Bean

  Hike it Bay 30 September 2018 Photo by Kristin Hinnant. This is what our winners, Lizz Billings (Deuter), Kendra Reeder (OAKI), Keira Wickliffe Berger (Babyganics) and the L.L.Bean winner, had to say about September’s HiB30 Challenge:

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE MEMORY FROM THE HIB30 CHALLENGE THIS SEPTEMBER?

Lizz: We spent 3 days in George Washington National Forest camping, and watching my son's complete joy in our hikes, climbing cliffs and making makeshift bark boats to race down the creek filled my heart. My son, who is 4, said, "Mommy this is good for [the] soul." L.L.Bean winner: Figuring out how to wear my baby in a carrier while walking with my dog (who often pulls on the leash)! Kendra: My favorite memory from this HiB30 Challenge was visiting a new-to-us park with our HiB family. Luca had so much fun on the trail, finding bugs and butterflies, different animal tracks and just spending time with his friends. These Challenges help push us to try new things. I don't know that we would have ever visited this park otherwise because it's small and was a 40-minute drive, but it's now one of Luca's favorite places to visit!

DID YOU HAVE ANY CHALLENGES TO OVERCOME? IF SO, HOW DID YOU OVERCOME THEM?

Lizz: We had a hurricane, a day of 10 tornadoes and the worst mosquitoes, subsequent from the storms, I've ever seen. The tornado day was a zero day and a good reminder that safety always comes first. We enjoyed jumping in puddles and learned that if you keep moving, the bugs bite a smidge less. L.L. Bean winner: Figuring out how to include my dog on more of our walks. Keira: Trying to balance being exhausted managing a 2-month-old infant and my 3-year-old and getting them outside. We also started the challenge with sinus infections/upper respiratory infections. It was so easy to say, "Sure you can watch TV," instead of making the push to go outside and do something. But remembering I was striving for no zero days helped. Kendra: I made two goals at the beginning of the challenge: no zero days and to hike to two vistas. I thought only wanting to hike to two vistas was a pretty lenient goal since we have multiple within a 30-minute drive. The month flew by and it became quickly apparent that hiking two vistas just wasn't going to happen. Luca is 3.5, he's almost too heavy for me to carry anymore and he'd much rather explore on his own two legs. I didn't want to hurt myself trying to carry 50+ lbs seven miles up a mountain, and I knew it was something he wouldn't enjoy either. I also knew there was no way he was hiking that far, especially uphill. I made some unrealistic goals. The perfectionist in me wanted to hike to two vistas, no matter what, but I knew better. This Challenge is meant to be fun and in order to keep it that way, I had to let that goal of mine go. Looking back, I'm glad I did because it ultimately gave us more time to do things that he wanted to do. He had an absolute blast and we made so many amazing memories and that is what matters most.

WHAT IS YOUR NUMBER ONE PIECE OF ADVICE YOU WOULD GIVE TO OTHER FAMILIES UNSURE ABOUT GETTING OUTSIDE FOR 30 MINUTES 3 TIMES PER WEEK OR ACHIEVING 30 MILES IN 30 DAYS?

Lizz: Make sure you are making it fun. If 30 miles isn't reasonable for you, then change your goal. I pushed the miles too hard for one challenge and it made hiking not fun for my son. However, when I switched to just as many minutes outside as possible and no zero days, he had a blast and we hit the 30 miles anyways because it was more enjoyable for him. L.L. Bean winner: Schedule outdoor activity as part of your regular daily/weekly routine. Keira: Just aim for getting outside each day for a little bit and not focus on having to get to 30 miles or 30 minutes three times a week. When you aim for a little each day, you’ll be surprised how fast it adds up and how much more you may be doing than you think. Kendra: Relax! You can set your own goals and you can change them. The Challenge is supposed to be inspirational and fun.
Thank you to all who joined us for the HiB30 Challenge this September! Join us next time and be entered to win some great prizes. The next HiB30 Challenge begins November 1, so mark your calendars!

Community tags

This content has 0 tags that match your profile.

Community

Community Engagement

Comments

To leave a comment, login or sign up.

Related Content

0
Is Your City Involved in the 10 Minute Walk Initiative?
Have you heard about the 10 Minute Walk Initiative?! No? Well, if you think that increasing access to parks and green spaces can lead to better overall physical and mental health, especially during a health crisis, or that your overall quality of life would improve with close access to green space, then you’re already on board with this new program. Photo by Monique Vargas 10 Minute Walk Initiative The 10 Minute Walk Initiative aims to “...ensure that everyone in your city has safe, easy access to a quality park within a 10-minute walk of home by 2050.” That’s not just their mission for already more green-friendly places in the nation like California or Colorado, that’s their promise for the WHOLE COUNTRY. Check out their website to see if your mayor and your city are taking part and if you don’t see their name, do what I did and sign up to stay on top of how to get involved. Maybe you can even convince your mayor to take part. If you’re reading this you are already part of the growing Hike it Baby community and you know that a cornerstone of their mission is to Leave No Family Behind. If you’re changing a diaper, feeding your kid, having a meltdown (you or your kid!), if you can’t do the whole hike or if it’s your first hike we won’t leave you behind! This extends to race, sexual orientation, gender, disabilities, and language. This is of course still our mission but we have realized that many families are being left behind by default because they do not have access. This is unacceptable. We need to do better and that’s why Hike it Baby wholeheartedly supports the 10 Minute Walk Initiative. To ensure no family is left behind, we have to make sure that all families have easy access to safe parks and green spaces. OutGrown works to be the most effective hub of tools, information, and community inspiring all families with babies and young children to get outside and connect with nature. Learn more about OutGrown's mission and how you can get involved. ABOUT OUTGROWN OutGrown is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works to create a world where everyone can enjoy the physical and mental benefits of spending time outside. We are focused on creating opportunities and removing barriers to access so families with babies and young children can take their first steps outside. We believe all families have the right to connect with nature, benefit from spending time outdoors and be inspired to a lifelong love of nature. Since its grassroots inception in 2013, OutGrown is a growing community of 280,000 families and over 300 volunteer Branch Ambassadors. More information on all of our programs can be found at WeAreOutGrown.org  EDITOR’S NOTE: We hope you enjoyed reading this article from OutGrown. We’re working hard to provide our community with content and resources that inform, inspire, and entertain you. But content is not free. It’s built on the hard work and dedication of writers, editors, and volunteers. We make an investment in developing premium content to make it easier for families with young children to connect with nature and each other. We do not ask this lightly, but if you can, please make a contribution and help us extend our reach.
0
I Belong Outside: Dineo’s Story
This blog is part of our Elevating Voices series in partnership with      Meet Dineo Dowd.  Dini is one of Hike it Baby’s Board of Directors members, and a former Branch Ambassador.  She’s an author of multiple children's books and has a 7-year-old daughter.  Her family lives in Madison, Wisconsin, but this wasn’t always the case! Growing Up I grew up in South Africa, but did not have a connection to hiking. Hiking was something tourists did. They carried their stuffed packs and headed out, and I always wondered what ARE they doing? What is even IN those packs? Hiking and camping just were just tourist activities, and I wasn’t involved in them at all until moving to the United States. Moving to the United States When I moved to Utah, my husband and I went hiking very frequently and became very outdoorsy. I was hiking regularly, camping all the time, and had an amazing group of friends to do all of these activities with. It was everything, and an important part of my identity.   My husband and I planned to keep up this outdoorsy lifestyle even after the birth of our daughter, Armani. However, once Armani arrived, I found that hiking with a baby was new and different. Those friends that I hiked with didn’t always want to listen to a baby cry, or wait for diaper changes and feedings. One day, my husband and I attempted a difficult hike with the baby, and I slipped and fell, breaking my camera. This left me frustrated and lacking confidence in hiking with my daughter. An important part of my life was gone and I felt defeated.              Enter Hike it Baby One day, I was chatting with a stranger who mentioned Hike it Baby. This mom mentioned a group called Hike it Baby, where moms and babies would go out for hikes as a group. This sounded amazing, and I looked them up for a hike to attend. I ended up going on my first Hike it Baby hike, which was also the first hike for the Salt Lake City branch. Hike it Baby changed my life. I began hiking five days a week with other parents, building my confidence in hiking with my daughter and spending time outside. Armani has had the opportunity to grow up outside, thanks to our adventures together and my deep desire to raise her with a connection to nature. In spending time in nature, I've learned the most important piece to getting outside with kids is just that – Get outside! Worry about the gear later. People get overwhelmed with all of the things and gear to get outside, but it usually doesn’t matter – just start going outside. Simply open the door and start exploring together. There are so many benefits to taking those steps outside and embracing nature. By stepping out of my comfort zone, I've had the opportunity to embrace nature, meet amazing new people, and travel to awesome places (next up, Mount Kilimanjaro!). Inclusivity in Nature When I first sought out diverse children’s books about hiking, I found that there simply were none on the shelves. I wanted Armani to be able to see herself in nature, and so I wrote a children’s book to make that happen. I'm now a published children’s book author with multiple titles, diverse books and is helping children everywhere see themselves in nature! I may have started with Hike it Baby Salt Lake City, but have since been involved in multiple Hike it Baby branches and my advice is that there are so many resources and ways to be inclusive, there is no excuse not to be inclusive in nature.  Just make it happen!       Watch Dineo's Story Here   ABOUT OUTGROWN OutGrown is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works to create a world where everyone can enjoy the physical and mental benefits of spending time outside. We are focused on creating opportunities and removing barriers to access so families with babies and young children can take their first steps outside. We believe all families have the right to connect with nature, benefit from spending time outdoors and be inspired to a lifelong love of nature. Since its grassroots inception in 2013, OutGrown is a growing community of 280,000 families and over 300 volunteer Branch Ambassadors. More information on all of our programs can be found at WeAreOutGrown.org    EDITORS NOTE: We hope you enjoyed reading this article from OutGrown. We’re working hard to provide our community with content and resources that inform, inspire, and entertain you. But content is not free. It’s built on the hard work and dedication of writers, editors, and volunteers. We make an investment in developing premium content to make it easier for families with young children to connect with nature and each other. We do not ask this lightly, but if you can, please make a contribution and help us extend our reach.
OutGrown
Powered by Cause Machine. All rights reserved.