​Giving back is an important part of the Stroller Warriors® mission. Over the years, our members have supported, participated, donated and fundraised for many causes, groups, and organizations. In addition to tangible goods and volunteer hours, our efforts include awareness campaigns using our social media resources to reach our vast network of military spouses, their families, and our friends.

For the month of November, Stroller Warriors participated in a global initiative in support of Soldiers’ Angels.

Founded in 2003 by Patt Patton-Bader, Soldiers’ Angels carries an important mission of supplying aid, comfort, and resources to the military, veterans, and families.  Patt’s personal story is the reason behind the creation of the organization— while deployed in Iraq, Patt’s oldest son, Staff Sergeant Brandon Varn, noticed that he was one of the few service members receiving care packages. With this news, Patti gathered a group of friends and neighbors, and began sending packages to her son’s whole platoon.
As more packages were received, it was brought to the group’s attention that requests for help were needed for soldiers, hospitals, and families at home. Patti, her friends, and neighbors knew there was a continued need for help. They also knew there were more people willing to help! Patti used technology at home to create a means to match the specific requests from soldiers to willing volunteers. In a few months Patti went from sending a few care packages to thousands across the world.

Soldiers’ Angels has grown exponentially since its start and offers programs for deployed troops, families, veterans, and wounded. To this day their Deployed Support team remains popular— sending thousands of cards, letters, care packages and other requested items to service members deployed all over the world.

Please check out the wonderful ways our chapters gave back to this amazing organization.

Stroller Warriors Okinawa, Japan donated seven boxes to deployed troops thanks to the deployment support team. These boxes are packed full of great hygiene items, snacks, magazines, a pillowcase, and other great items. Every box is unique based on what items they happen to have in stock, so no box is identical, and it is unique to each recipient.

Stroller Warriors Iwakuni, Japan was honored to support the Soldiers' Angels Global Outreach Event for the month of November. They had 11 runners who collectively ran 405 Miles for the month. This also included a dedicated 10 mile run on Saturday, 11/20. This also happened to be a SW Mileage Incentive milestone run for two of our Warriors reaching 500 miles for the year.

Stroller Warriors Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii  hosted a run on November 12th and dedicated  miles to Soldiers' Angels. We ran a total of 49.39 miles that day as a team!

Stroller Warriors Twenty Nine Palms, California had 7 members collectively dedicate 435 miles for Soldiers' Angels over the month of November.

​Stroller Warriors Scott, Illinois kicked off the month by collecting leftover Halloween candy for Treats for Troops, a program put on by Soldiers Angels. In all, they compiled a massive 27 pounds of candy.

On November 15th, Stroller Warriors Fort Belvoir, Virginia hosted a dedication run. They collectively dedicated 14 miles.

As always, our members went above and beyond supporting this wonderful organization. Congratulations Warriors on a job well done!

If you are interested in learning more and supporting Soldiers’ Angels please visit their website at https://soldiersangels.org/.

Winter break is upon us— holiday travel is happening, kids are on school vacation, visitors are coming from out of town.  Lots of wheels are turning, but I still make it a point to prioritize fitness.  How can we make fitness happen over the holidays?  Here are some examples on how to integrate your fitness schedule into holiday craziness…
​
1). Include your children in your fitness routine.  This is something that Stroller Warriors do so well!  Throughout the school year, many of us have older children at school during the day.  As for me, many of my runs and workouts include my youngest in the jogging stroller (and our dog) right after I drop off my older kids at school.  During holiday break, I am shifting gears to ensure that I get in my daily fitness with my older two children home from school— planning running routes that are scooter and rollerblade friendly, adding a park pit-stop midway when I decide to do a longer run, opting for a shorter run to a local coffee shop and a walk home through the town square (the Christmas decorations in our town are lovely).  

2). Coordinate a solo run.  Even on non-school vacation days, it is splendid to have 30 solo minutes running.  I will coordinate with my husband’s work schedule to run before or after work.  In the past, I coordinated with my fellow Stroller Warrior friends— half of us would run, while the other half would watch the children at the park.  This is a wonderful time to lean on your Stroller Warriors community!

3). Diversify your strength training.  Strength training does not have to happen in a gym setting— it can happen anywhere!  As I was in the middle of cooking dinner a few days ago, I set my workout timer on the EMOM function (every minute on the minute) and for every minute for 60 minutes completed 10 air squats.  This past weekend while doing yard work, I pulled my barbell out from the shed and completed 8 rounds of 5 heavy deadlift in between shoveling leaves into giant paper bags.
 
4). Make hotel workouts quick.  I am not a fan of running endless miles on a hotel treadmill.  Create a workout that keeps you engaged.  Here are a few examples:
​
              - 1 minute intervals on the treadmill for 20 minutes (1 minute fast, 1 minute decreased speed)
              - 4 rounds of a 400 meter run at an incline with 25 sit ups between each run. 
              - 10 rounds of 10 jumping lunges, 10 push ups

It is a festive time of year, so remember to keep running and fitness enjoyable and merry!

Happy Running!
-Rose 

​It’s the most wonderful time of the year— children are creating and mailing their Christmas and holiday wish-lists (this year, my wish-list includes a pair of Altra trail running sneakers), and the Stroller Warriors® community is in the middle of a virtual running holiday scavenger hunt.  Oftentimes, non-running family and friends scramble to find a fitting and useful gift for their avid running loved ones! Race entries are always a fun choice, but it can be hard to choose useful and dynamic running gear!  Below is a list of items put together from the Stroller Warriors HQ team—from headlamps to cookbooks— these items can be a recipe for a lovely weekend morning run (I’m envisioning a pre-sunrise trail run with a headlamp and walking into the house to a quick and easy hot breakfast). 
 
Night-time running gear
-Nitecore HC60 Head lamp
-Nox light up vest
-Nike reflective running vest
-Camelback Chase bike vest 

Cold weather running gear
-Hot Hands warmers
-Yaktrax Pro Traction system (for snowy runs)
 
Hydration
-mont·bell Cross Runner pack 15
-Osprey Packs Dyna 6
-YETI water bottle
 
Running Accessories/attire
-Koala Clip
-Flip belt
-Balega blister resist running socks
-Lululemon Swiftly Tech shirt (short or long sleeves)
-Patagonia Synchilla fleece 

Electronics
-Apple Airpods
-Aftershokz headphones
-Theragun
-Google Home
-Insta Pot
-Air Fryer

Books
- She Explores: Stories of Life-Changing Adventures on the Road and in the Wild (Solo Travel Guides, Travel Essays, Women Hiking Books) by Gale Straub
-Breath by James Nestor

Did we miss anything?  What would you add to the list?  Please share!  Cheers to the running over the holidays and striding into the New Year!
 
Disclaimer:  Stroller Warriors® does not endorse any of the above products.  These are the personal views of Stroller Warriors members.  
​

Stroller Warriors®, Friends, and Fans:
 
I am extremely excited to say that we have made it through another year.  2020 was challenging for the Stroller Warriors community— the COVID Pandemic rocked the world and drastically reduced the capabilities of each chapter.  However, in true Stroller Warrior fashion, running and gathering as a community continued in several dynamic formats— hosting virtual meetups via Facebook Live or Zoom, setting goals through online challenges, communicating and posting running pictures on chapter social media outlets, continually hosting virtual C25K sessions, getting creative with ROM workouts, etc. Stroller Warriors shined with brilliance during trying times.
 
I am always proud of our Coordinators and Chapters.  I am in awe and motivated by their resilient and optimistic demeanor, which transfers to all our members.  Thank you for being a beacon of light for so many within the Stroller Warriors community.

​Here I have for you a showcase of the incredible accomplishments from the Stroller Warriors community during 2020.  The Stroller Warriors HQ leadership would like to extend our utmost gratitude to our vendors and supporters within our community— your continued support helped the Stroller Warriors community thrive! 
 
Without further ado, I present to you SW by the numbers 2020!
 
2 B210K Sessions
8 Gift of BOBs
9 Chapters participated in Team Relay Races
12 Chapters participated in the Stroller Loaner Program
19 B210K graduates
39 C2C finishers
46 sessions of C25K
65 meal trains provided
75 Coordinators
89 Special events Coordinated by Stroller Warriors Chapters
137 hours of manpower donated
162 donations to warriors
181 mini miles finishers
193 C25K graduates
216 Volunteers (not including Coordinators)
273 Mileage Incentive Program participants
735 active members who regularly attend workouts.
1,576 Items donated to various charities
3,194 miles ran by mini warriors
$11,761 donated to various charities.
161,400 miles ran together as a team
 
Unmeasurable: The positive impact of Stroller Warriors, not just on its members, but also positive ripple effect the Stroller Warriors mission imparts on each family, our military members, and the surrounding community!

ABOVE:  SW Lackland collected food, clothing, diapers, and personal hygiene items for two local organizations- St. Stephen’s Care Center and The Texas Diaper Bank.  

​
​Stroller Warriors took part in dedication runs and workouts for the following causes:
 
Run for Steph
Dedication Run for the Tidwell Family
Operation Gratitude
Memorial Day Virtual Run
Children of the Fallen Patriots
Hope for the Warriors
Purple up for Military Children
#RunwithMaud
Wear Blue: Run to remember
Black Lives Matter Workout
Cure SMA
Essential Workers
Miles of Smiles
 
 
A HUGE Thank you to these vendors, businesses and organizations. They have provided excellent support and partnership with our Stroller Warrior Chapters:
 
BOCO
Coastal Carolina
Sabrina's Unique Boutique
Friends of Sarah’s House
Want Different Do Different
Leave No Paws Behind USA
Keesler Airman & Family Readiness Center
Keesler SAPR
Keesler USO
The Treadmill
Katie's Coldpress Juice
Inside Trail
Lululemon
Coast to Coast Sugar Cookies
Operations Homefront
Shimazu-san - Okinawan Glass Medal maker
UltraGraphic
Stafford Media
Ramstein USO
Headsweat
Hodges Badges
VA Fisher House
City Of Saginaw, TX
 
I want to close out this chapter of SW by the Numbers by sharing some of the messages from our Coordinators.
 
“We've all had an exceptionally challenging year, what with COVID and the restrictions placed upon our chapter. However, our Warriors have persevered!” -SW Miramar
 
“This year was hard! Looking at it by the numbers, it doesn't feel like we did much. And actively, as a chapter, we really didn't. By the summer everyone was burnt out with virtual workouts. But we did all support each other as friends through texts, calls, FB messages! And Stroller Warriors is what brought us all together, and for that we were all so thankful for!” -SW Oak Harbor
 
“We Survived 2020!” -SW Pensacola
 
“It was a difficult year for all! I am proud of the SW here who kept showing up even virtually.” SW Lakenheath
 
“Our chapter stayed busy despite COVID. We came up with monthly challenges, craft times (aka no run fun day), and chapter check ins to keep our chapter engaged with one another virtually. “ -SW Fort Meade
 
Thank you Stroller Warriors, Friends, and Fans for enduring with us through a challenging year. We look forward to the future and seeing what other good we can do in the world. Not just for us, not just for the military, but for our entire community and the world.
 
Happy Running!
Kelly