What a great year for Stroller Strong Moms! As a group of strong and motivated moms, we sure accomplished a lot!
January/February through March/April, Columbus and Savannah moms participated in Get Fit for 2014. The challenge consisted of both fitness and body composition assessments and moms pushed themselves in and out of class to improve their overall fitness and nutrition over ten weeks. Everybody improved and the Get Fit Challenge was a great success! Savannah winners included Elizabeth, Ashleigh, April, Ashley, Annie and Sara (not pictured). Columbus winners included Tutt, Nicole, Corey, Carrie, Tracey and Hollie. Some of the Savannah winners are shown below.
Top finishers in the Savannah Get Fit for 2014 Challenge
In April, Stroller Strong Moms of Columbus worked together to put on our very first race, Light Up Columbus For Autism. We started planning the race in April of 2013 and in a year we secured sponsor after sponsor and we were able to write a check to Autism Speaks for $35,000!!! The fact that we were able to donate such a large amount of money in our first year of a race was an incredibly amazing, what an accomplishment!! Kuddos to all of the Stroller Strong Moms who helped secure sponsors!!! Despite the unfortunate downpour rain on race day, we still had close to 400 participants of the 1,000+ who were registered for the race. The community really came together for this event for an amazing cause and we couldn’t have been more pleased with the outpouring of support from the Columbus and surrounding community.
Columbus and Savannah moms came together at the LUC race!
After LUC in April, May was just as action packed for Stroller Strong Moms! In May, two teams of Stroller Strong Moms participated in the Run Across Georgia to raise money for the House of Heroes. The House of Heroes supports our veterans by making repairs to homes of veterans and their families. Both teams were made up of a mixture of Columbus and Savannah SSMs and they relayed 260 miles across the state of Georgia! The run started in Fort Stewart, GA (just outside of Savannah) and ended in downtown Columbus, GA. It was extra special that the run happened between the two Stroller Strong Moms cities!! Team SSM won first place by finishing the race in 34 hours and 43 minutes and set the all time course record for RAG in the female division! SLAM United was the top fundraiser as they pulled together $16,046 to donate to the House of Heroes!!! Team SSM finished 3rd in fundraising with $12,519. Huge thank you to friends and family of both teams who helped us to collectively raise over $28,000 for HOH!! WOW!!! This was SSM’s second year participating in the Run Across Georgia and there are already plans for next years teams!
Team SSM: Erin, Granny Griffin, Katie, Lindsay, Alexa, Reba, Sara and Rosa
Team SLAM United: Kim, Annie, Jess, Lora, Kelli, Lindsey, Tracey, Natascha, Emily, Jenifer, Tutt, Lori, Rachel and Camille
August was a very special month for Stroller Strong Moms… it was the month of the Grand Opening class of our VERY FIRST affiliate Stroller Strong Moms business in Lexington, KY with former Columbus instructor, Brooke Whitis! Brooke’s family moved from Columbus, GA back home to Lexington, KY and she just couldn’t stand to be without some SLAM in her life! Brooke used her amazing expertise and motivational skills to start a group in Lexington. She has been going strong now for 4 months! Great job BDub!
September marked SLAMiversaries in both Columbus and Savannah. Columbus celebrated 3 years and Savannah celebrated 2 years. What was the theme this year? Mama Ninja Warrior!!! We had a blast at both locations celebrating what makes Stroller Strong Moms so great…challenging, unique, and fun classes that push mamas to their limits!! Moms were separated into teams and were put to the test in various obstacles. The ninja warrior challenges in Columbus included playground obstacle course, rope throws and parachutes, wall balls and sprints, balance walks and low crawls and tire flipping! Savannah challenged moms to an agility obstacle course, rope throws and parachutes, plate carries and stroller pushes/pulls, wall balls and lunges and a core and balance challenge. The winning mama ninja warrior teams are shown below.
The Savannah winners were the Blue Bandit Ninjas!
The Columbus winners were the Red Devils!!!
On October 4th, Savannah moms supported a very important event, The Low Country Down Syndrome Society’s Buddy Walk. The goals of The Buddy Walk are to promote acceptance and inclusion of people with Down syndrome and to positively influence local and national policy and practice. Stroller Strong Moms had t-shirts made and the extra money was donated to Low Country Down Syndrome Society. This was an event very near and dear to our hearts as Savannah SSMs enthusiastically supported our very own Liam (Leemie) Watson!
A few short months after welcoming our first affiliate, we welcomed another one, Stroller Strong Moms DC Area with Kelli Berger! Kelli’s grand opening was in October after she and her family moved from Savannah to DC. Kelli was one of our instructors in Savannah and she was excited to start to create a Stroller Strong Mom family in DC just as she had in Savannah. Kelli is lucky to have four former SSM Savannah members who have also moved to DC, including SSM Yoga instructor, Lindsay Platky!! I am so proud of our loyal SSM affiliates who carry the vision of a challenging but fun fitness class for moms and kids.
November 8th was a very important date for both Savannah and Columbus Stroller Strong Moms. Many Columbus moms participated in the Soldier’s Marathon/Half Marathon/Relay and Savannah moms participated in the Rock’n’Roll Half Marathon/Marathon/Relay… all on the same day!!! There were tons of first time marathoners and PRs. We even had a Columbus SSM instructor, Rosa Eshoo, come over to Savannah to complete the Rock’n’Roll marathon with her husband, Tony. Below are some photos from the Columbus and Savannah races respectively.
Looking back at 2014, I am filled with joy as I reflect on all of the amazing accomplishments that this strong group of mamas has achieved. Many goals have been reached as a result of pure hard work, determination, and teamwork. These moms support each other and hold each other accountable and it’s so fun to watch! It’s so impressive that each one of these ladies is a MOM first, but somehow they find a way to make no excuses and get to business. Don’t mess with these mamas, they are Stroller Strong Moms! I am excited to see what 2015 brings!!!
Cheers to a happy and healthy New Year!!!
Keep SLAMing,
Alexa
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