It's been a lonely start. My first 25 miles have been within the realm of my normal exercise, and I think it will continue that way for most of the remaining challenge. However, my team and my post (Frank R Stiles Post 125) have decided to show our area what determination can do. We have set up a 100 Miles for Hope Relay that will take us from our post in North Adams to Post 414 in Sutton, Mass. You guessed it! It's exactly 100 miles post to post according to Google Maps. We will be doing this a couple of weeks before the end of the challenge and using the completion ceremony as a final push on fundraising through raffles.

I'm excited to follow this story up with our trials, tribulations and successes of our 1st Annual 100 Miles for Hope Trek through western Massachusetts.