When I signed up for this challenge - I did it knowing there would be many obstacles in the way. Having two kids that already have a full schedule, a job, a wife, holidays and plenty of other things makes for a lot of planning ahead. Long story short, I made it work and have almost completed this crazy journey. I set a goal of raising $5,000 and reached that in 17 days. It's amazing how so many great people came together to like, share and forward my great cause. The wounded warriors deserve the help and I hope that the $5,000 we raised does some good. 

After 21 days into the run, we've completed 166.71 miles - that's the equivalent of running 6.3 marathons. I'm really looking forward to being done - with my approximate calculations, we have just under 40 miles to go. I've had the pleasure of running with a few different friends and family and will be running with the Chapins in their neighborhood on the 22nd. 

Once I'm completed with this challenge, I am going to take a few weeks off and then begin training for Ironman 70.3 that is on Fathers Day 2020. I'm about 95% sure Im going to sign up for the Booneville Backwoods 50k as well. It'll be tough but I really want to cross ULTRA off of my bucket list. 

Today, I'll be running near Viennas school and the Southeastern Border of Waukee. Everything North of University avenue is done. Everything west of Warrior Lane is done. Just gotta do the central and south and BOOM. Job finished. 

I'm reading a book called "Thank me for my service" by Mat Best. It's absolutely fantastic. Check it out. 

Thanks to my crazy schedule I'm exhausted. This weekend isn't going to help. Tonight, I go into work around 8pm. If all goes well, I'll be in bed by 3:30am. Then I am running the RCC Run the Woods 4mile race that has a pull-up competition at the end. For each pull-up, you remove 30 seconds from your overall race time. A lot of young cross country badasses run the race so I can't keep up with them, but I can do more pull-ups than anyone I know. I think I did 36 last year. I got a little bit derailed from training, but would love it if I could get to 30. 

Then after the race, I'm going to go to a wedding. Then straight from the reception to see Smile Empty Soul play at Leftys with Kenny. Unfortunately, work calls again so I"ll have to leave just a bit early and probably miss Bottom of a Bottle. When I wake up on Sunday, we're heading back to Shotgun Bettys to setup for Steven and Karinas wedding party only to leave a few hours later to head to Vienna's first 5k at Water Works with Girls on the Run. I'm excited for her. I'll be running it with her of course. Then back to Shotgun Bettys to bartend the wedding party. If all goes well - I'll be in bed at 8pm and sleep until about 10am the next morning. 

I'm now at 78.24 miles into #WaukeeWarriorRun - it's crazy what I'm doing. I still have drive and determination to get out everyday but I'm not going to lie, I'm ready to be done. I'm done with north of Hickman! My guess is that I'm almost 40% complete. We've already raised over $3200 for the Wounded Warrior Project so it's worth it. This blog is pretty cool. Gives me a good place to vent. Official party for the event will be December 1 at Global Brew. Hopefully everyone can show up to support such a great cause. Cheers.

We're still rockin' on the #WaukeeWarriorRun and have already run over 40 miles. I hope to get another 12-15 today. Thanks to my pal Kenny Hartzer, Worth Exteriors is jumping on board with a massive donation. I"m super pumped. Hope to meet up with them today to get it squared away. I'm almost done with the Northern and Western parts. Then I have Central, East, and a lot of the South. With 24 days to go, it'll be work but we can get it done. 

Thanks again to Ayrin, TJ and Jesse Johnson who have run with me so far. We have a handful of people lined up to run with me soon! 

Today, I worked on the Northeast corner of town. It was cold and rainy just like the first day, but I was actually really comfortable. Kaylee, Mom and Kenny came out to support and followed me around to take some pictures, videos and Kenny even broke out the drone. I hope to see some cool stuff in the next day or two! Tomorrow, once I take Hudson to school, I plan on going out and running more. I'm going to need every bit of the 27 days remaining unless I plan on doing 20 miles a day! 

After my run, Kenny and I stopped into Global Brew - the best Tap House in town and had a few beers and watched some football. 


Here is an awesome photo of me, Ayrin (National Guard) and TJ (Army) from day one after we finished our 10-miler. 

When I woke up today, the only thing on my mind was getting this run in the books. I knew it was going to be cold and rainy.  Because I don't get home from work until 3:00am on Friday mornings and then wake up at 6:45 to get the kids ready for school - I knew I was going to need a nap or two to get the energy needed to run on gravel in the middle of no where for a few hours. Luckily, my neighbor was able to take the girls to school today, so I got an extra hour right off the bat. Then, once I took my son to school, I got another two hours. Combined, I'm somewhere around 6 hours of sleep on the day. Ill call that a win. We decided that we would get to the starting point of 300th and T Avenue around 3:00pm rain or shine. I used my foam roller and did some stretching at the gym and got a little warmup on the stationary bike to get the legs ready to go. Not long before takeoff, I got a text from Army badass TJ Burns and says he'd like to get wet and cold. I thought it was awesome to have an actual veteran running with me on my first day. Once he showed up, he told me that one of the most awesome runners in the state - and his girlfriend - Ayrin would be running with us. Ayrin just finished up running 50 half marathons in 50 states. She's a savage and is active with the National Guard. So now I have to American badasses running with me. 

Though it was rainy and cold, I couldn't have asked for a better day. The total on the day ended up being 10.23 miles (1:40ish) - I never stopped the clock once we began. My wife and kids followed us along the way filming, cheering and taking photos of us out there doing what we love. During the run, a few donations came in. I couldn't have been more proud. At this point, we're sitting at $920.00 and today was only day one. That means we still have just over $4,000 to go, but I'm optimistic. Its going to take some work and a lot of miles but we'll get it done. Thanks to Polar, B-Bops, Clif Bar, and Global Brew Tap House and if you're reading - SAUCONY - the best shoes on the planet. 

​

Finally, after a few months of planning, today is the day. We’ve marked out quite a few routes for the #WaukeeWarriorRun

It is going to be cold, and rainy but a little adversity makes a challenge that much better. We’ve already raised over $800 and I haven’t even started running yet. Thanks to all that have donated.

Let’s do this for the Veterans!
go time.
​-Bruce