EVERY MILE COUNTS!

And we’re back! Are you ready to go? 

Welcome to the 2022 AWCH Spring Challenge: Every Mile Counts

Every Mile Counts is a virtual fitness journey across America. Collectively, our logged steps, bike rides, hikes, swims, and runs will move a virtual token over a path to visit the US national parks, monuments, and seashores. It is fun, encourages everyone to move, and, at the same time, we will be exploring the beauty of America's national park system and learning about the historical, ecological, and social significance of these landmarks.

Our Goal?  To "move" as many miles as we need to get us from the Dulles International Airport in the nation's capital to 16 national landmarks across the US -- from sea to shining sea. Which team will be the first to make it to Assateague Island National Seashore?  When your team arrives at a milestone, we will send you information about that site, and hope to receive pictures of a previous (or current) trip there from you.  Next stop: Fort McHenry National Monument … and the trip continues. Can we make it to Point Reyes National Seashore in California? Or even all the way to Los Angeles International Airport -- so that we can get on a plane to Hawaii? Wouldn't that be a great place to celebrate Fourth of July together!  Let's get started!

Who: AWCH Members (free!), Friends & Family (Adults: €10, Children 5-17: €5), Ukrainians, who you know personally and are fleeing the war: (free! Please contact us.)

When: May 1 – June 30, 2022

Where: My Virtual Mission platform

• If you participated last year, follow the link (see below) to join the new challenge in My Virtual Mission.
• If you do not already have an account with the platform from last year, you will first need to make one using your email address (use link below)
• Non-members will first need to pay the entrance fee via PayHip (https://payhip.com/awchbooks)
• There is no code to join but an admin will admit members; your friends and family will also be admitted once their payment on PayHip is confirmed

Why: To move, to connect, and to enjoy the US National Parks, National Monuments, and National Seashores.

Teams:  Our membership has been divided into four equal teams – basically the same as last year. The teams are geographic clusters of the Hamburger Helper groups to encourage local meetups. Friends and family will be placed on the same team as the member who referred them unless otherwise requested. Every endeavor will be made to keep the teams the same size. Please contact us if you have a special request (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..)

• RED Team: River Alster (Uhlenhorst, Winterhude, Barmbek Nord, Alsterdorf; Groß Borstel, Fühlsbüttel, Ohlsdorf, Wellingsbüttel, Norderstedt, Langenhorn; Schnelsen, Bönnigstedt, Niendorf, Quickborn, A7 North; USA)
• YELLOW Team: Goldbek (Barmbek Süd, Eilbek, Hohenfelde, Borgfelde, Hamm, St. Georg; Billstedt, Horn, Bergedorf, Reinbek, Lohbrügge; Farmsen, Stapelfeld, Wandsebek, Rahstedt, Meiendorf, Ahrensburg; Popppenbüttel, Volksdorf, Sasel, lemshal, Bergstedt; Berlin, So. Germany, and UK)
• GREEN Team: Isebek (Eppendorf, Hoheluft Ost, Lokstedt; Harvestehude, Eimsbüttel, Hoheluft West, Schlump, Sternschanze, Carolinenviertel, Rothenbaum)
• BLUE Team: Elbe (Altona, Ottensen, Blankenese, and further West; Othmarschen, Nienstedten, Bahrenfeld, GroßFlottbek; South of the Elbe) 

There will be a friendly WhatsApp group for each team to cheer each other on. Everyone is welcome – just let Hannah know if we should add you (or delete you) from last year’s group. You may add your friends and family if you choose. 

Rules:

• Log-in your miles (or km) on the MyVirtualMissionApp or on their website every day or cumulatively by Sunday at midnight for the previous week. 
• Please use the following conversion chart if you want to manually log your miles/km: https://www.myvirtualmission.com/downloads/guides/mvm/MVM-Activity-Conversion-Chart-2021-01.pdf
• Alternatively, you can sync your miles/km to a fitness app on your phone, watch, or fitness tracker. For some tips for pairing with different trackers, see https://mvmhelp.myvirtualmission.com/en/collections/2891945-i-am-a-participant#connections.
• Please be mindful that the platform has technological constraints – some pairings produce DOUBLE entries. We will contact you to address the issue. However, to keep it fair, the administrators or our assigned account manager will delete one of the duplicate entries if these issues are not or cannot be resolved. If you are syncing your mileage, please do NOT also enter it manually.
• People may join at any time, however they may only ‘back’ record miles to the beginning of the week they joined. Each week starts on Monday and ends on Sunday.
• Children between 5-17 are encouraged, but not required, to have their own accounts. We have discounted fees for children.

Feedback is always welcome and will be taken into consideration for next year!  (Hannah B at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

And remember to have fun and promote positivity while indulging your competitive spirit. 

Go to the link here (opens in new window) or log-in and view link under location.

Disclaimer: The American Women's Club of Hamburg e.V. takes no responsibility for problems associated with the internet platform and app provided by the third-party provider. Their privacy policy can be viewed here: https://www.myvirtualmission.com/blog/privacy-policy/.