by: Kelly

I feel like I should start off this blog with an apology. I’m sorry for getting this to you so late! Stroller Warriors Coordinators around the world keep track of how awesome their club is and send all of this data in to us at SWHQ. One of my jobs is to compile all of this data into a wonderful snapshot for you all to see just how INCREDIBLE our worldwide team is!
 
This year, my family PCSd to Okinawa, Japan and in the midst of the packers and chaos of an overseas move, the data for SW by the Numbers got put down and didn’t get picked back up until now.

However, that doesn’t change how amazing our club is, nor does it negate any of the positive work we do around the world. My motto has always been, that it is better late than never! Whenever we compile these lists, we are always surprised by the sheer magnitude of the story that the numbers tell. It is absolutely inspiring! So here we are without further ado, we excitedly present to you:  
 
Stroller Warriors Running Club by the numbers for 2018!
5 Chapters held a Gift of Garmin
9 Sessions of Bridge to 10K (B210K) with a total of 50 graduates
9 Gift of BOB
9 Chapters have Stroller Loaner Programs
11 Chapters participated in Wreaths Across America
13 Bags of trash picked up through plogging Events
14 Chapters participated in team Relays with their chapter including: Ragnar Relays, Round the Bay Relay, Wolfson Children’s Hospital Relay, Big Sur Marathon Relay, Iwakuni City Friendship Relay, Yokohmam North Dock Relay, Ekiden Relay, Trail Treads and Track Relay, Little Apple Marathon Relay, and the Viking Challenge Relay
25 Sessions of Couch to 5K (C25K) with a total of 202 graduates
25 Chapters gave back to their fellow Stroller Warriors
37 Race donations gifted
46 Active Chapters
81 Man hours laying wreaths at Wreaths Across America events
107 Meal trains provided
110 Coordinators (aka “Fearless Leaders”)
121 Warriors who went Couch 2 Crazy by completing a 5K, then a 10K, then a half marathon (13.1 miles) in one calendar year!
299 Volunteers
312 Cookies baked for the RAF Mildenhall Cookie Drive
357 Toys donated to Toys for Tots
362 Participants in our Mini Miles Program
375 Pairs of shoes donated (Soles 4 Souls, Jenkins Donelson Foundation and Valoha)
400 Items donated to the fire fighters charity
422 Wreaths were donated to Wreaths Across America
455 Participants in our mileage incentive program - Runopoly
1,132 Volunteer hours at various charity events
2,548.5 Miles ran by our Mini Warriors
10,182 Likes on our global page
10,418 Items donated to charitable organizations around the world
27, 289.35 Dollars raised for various charities
211,625 Miles ran as a team for Runopoly
 
Priceless: The positive impact of Stroller Warriors, not just on its members but on the surrounding community too!
 
I want to take a minute to highlight just a few of the things Stroller Warriors has done for our world. 375 pairs of shoes were donated through the Stroller Warriors! As runners, we know the importance of a good pair of shoes. The wrong pair of shoes will stop forward progress. You wouldn’t want to put one foot in front of the other if it resulted in pain and blisters. Having the right pair of shoes that are the right size can make a world of a difference in someone’s life! And we are so proud of our chapters for making a difference.

Many of our chapters supported Wreaths Across America, both in Volunteer hours and in purchasing of wreaths. Wreaths Across America says this about their mission, “In many homes there is an empty seat for one who is serving or who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. We show our veterans and families that we will not forget. We will never forget.” I think this message of always being looked after, never forgotten has touched the heart of many Warriors in our military community. Eleven of our chapters participated in Wreaths Across America events. As a team we raised $6,582 dollars for Wreaths Across America, which enabled the purchase of 422 wreaths. To accomplish the task of laying the wreaths, we provided a minimum of 81 volunteer hours. I am so proud of our team and of their dedication to remembering all of our veterans!

The Stroller Warriors of Fort Worth came up with a unique idea to support their local community. They decided to adopt a spot and signed up for the long term cleaning and care of a local playground that they and their children use. Periodically the chapter holds extra events there and members come out to clean up the playground and make it beautiful again. We are so proud of our team for not only taking the time to clean up our world, but also for picking a long term project that doesn’t end in one day; it’s an on going and continued commitment they have made. WELL DONE STROLLER WARRIORS!!

Stroller Warriors around the world regularly host Dedication Runs. They run in honor of those who can’t and they help to raise money or awareness for certain causes or organizations. This year numerous dedication runs were held and we’d like to highlight those causes now.
 
Dedication Runs/Workouts hosted by the Stroller Warriors:
 
A-T Children’s Project
Autism Awareness
Breast Cancer Awareness
Charity Miles to USO
Dedication Run for Carter Staley
Dedication Run for those lost in the KC130 crash and FA18 Collision
Depression Awareness
Fisher House
Geraghty Gallop
Global Running Day
Green Beret Foundation
Meg’s Miles Dedication Run
Memorial Day Run
Miles for Mollie
Miles for Peyton
Month of the Military Child
Pearl Harbor Remembrance Run
Remember the Fallen
Run for Steph (Suicide Awareness)
Semper Fi Fund
TACP 24 Hour Memorial Run
The Murph Challenge
Toys for Tots
Wear Blue: Run to Remember

The Month of the Military Child is always a cause near and dear to our hearts. We are so proud of our mini warriors!

The Semper Fi Fund provides direct financial assistance and vital programming for combat wounded, critically ill and catastrophically injured service members and their families. We are so proud of many of our chapters joining together to support such an important cause to our military community.

Numerous SW chapters participated in Toys for Tots, collecting a whopping 357 brand new toys for the toys for tots program! Great job Stroller Warriors!

A HUGE THANK YOU to these vendors, businesses and organizations. They have provided excellent support and partnership with our Stroller Warriors Chapters:

ASYMCA of Hawaii
Beach and Bay YMCA
Bishop Events
Blue Star Families
Coastal Carolina Designs
First Command Financial Services
Fitapnia  and Josh Anderson
Fort Riley Spouses Club
Grounded Running
Hawaii Running Lab
Hodges Badges
Honolulu Marathon
Manhattan Running Company
Mike Ryan, Certified Athletic Trainer & Registered Physical Therapist
Oahu Spine & Rehab
Paradise Screening Printing
Pensacola Sports
Point 2 Running Company
Red 7 Tees
Road Runner Sports, Falls Church
Run with It
Samantha Lee Photography
Seaside School
Whitside Gym Staff
Women’s National Half and 8K
 
As you can see by this snapshot of numbers, Stroller Warriors Chapters around the world are making a positive difference in the lives of others. We are always excited to share these numbers because it helps to break it down for our members just how MUCH they impact the world!
 
The “priceless” list item at the end recognizes the positive impact and the immense reach of the unique combination of activities that Stroller Warriors offers. It includes the countless workouts, races, relays, book club gatherings, Exceptional Warrior dinners, Warrior Night Out events, play-dates, Prayer Warrior meetings, deployment support groups, Swap Shops, PCS mentoring, and general advice and recommendations about anything and everything. If you could see the amount of support and encouragement our members give and receive on a daily basis, your heart would be warmed just like ours is!
 
WELL DONE STROLLER WARRIORS! WELL DONE!!

Halloween is just a few weeks away! Have you starting thinking of a stroller costume idea to attend your chapter's Stroller Treating or Trunk or Treat events or maybe even your local 5K or 10K?! The Warriors at Stroller Warriors® Quantico have continually knocked this task out of the park so we are highlighting a handful of their creative stroller costumes on the blog today.

Now that you have seen THEIR ideas... what stroller costume ideas do YOU have in mind this year? Share with us in the comments below!

Here also are a couple of ideas that we haven't seen before that you might try to recreate....