Old Fort Strong Endurance Festival

🏔️ On December 7th I’ll be running in the Tanawha Adventure’s Old Fort Strong 24 hour Endurance Challenge at Camp Grier to raise money to rebuild a small Appalachian community that’s been tremendously damaged by Hurricane Helene.

🌟 My goal is to raise $2,000 towards the Old Fort Strong Fund that will be used to support community members who had significant damage to their businesses or homes in Old Fort and will not receive any help from insurance. This town is a special place that’s home to many of my favorite trails. 

⛈️ I continue to process the impact that this natural disaster has had and like many, I have struggled with the guilt of not having it as bad off as others while staying with friends and family until my own home has water & power restored plus navigating work changes. I have felt heartbroken, fearful, and confused as well as hopeful and empowered by how giving and courageous communities have been in their response. I can’t say enough how grateful I am to be okay and taken care of throughout this.

🏃🏻‍♀️ Prior to the hurricane, I intended to run in my first 100 miler this November but after getting an invitation to sign up for a race that I have been on the waitlist for, it seemed like there was too much stress and it felt selfish and “reckless” to make it work while there are so many uncertainties at home. I felt lost because I had spent several months training and dreaming about this race. It was a couple of days later that I received an email about the Old Fort Strong Challenge and knew immediately that this is what I needed to do and that it was a way that I could use my passion to connect to something bigger than me. It’s also the weekend of my Birthday (December 9th) and there will be so many humans I adore there. I can’t think of any other way I’d want to spend the weekend.

❤️ Help me in my effort to raise money for the Old Fort Strong Fund. This fund is dedicated to helping support community members in Old Fort who have lost their homes or had significant damage to their homes and will not receive any help to pay for rebuilding from insurance.  Due to the massive flooding that took place outside of historic flood zones, many homes did not have flood insurance to cover this cost.  In total 50+ homes were lost in McDowell County alone.  The goal is to raise $2,000,000 from this event alone to help in this cause.  All donations will go directly to helping those in need in our community.