Paddle 100
Published January 5, 2011 | 
Here I am lost in the wind
‘Round in circles sailing
Like a ship that never comes in
– Randy Newman
This year my local state park is celebrating their 100th anniversary. Devil’s Lake is where I’ve worked, exercised off 100 lbs, and learned to pass my kayak coaching exams.. It’s also the place I go to find my inner peace. One of the centennial events is encouraging folks to get out and hike, bike, run, ski, or whatever 100 miles in 2011 It’s called the Hike 100 Club. Now any dyed-in-the-drysuit paddler will be agast! What? No Paddling? Well, I’m not going to let that stand! Call it a spite thing.. Kayakers count too!!! The longest terrestrial trail in the park is about a 6 mile loop (Although I’ve been able to tie a bunch together to get near 20). To reach your hundred miles assuming your not going around multiple times in a day, you’ll need to put in about 16 days on the trail. To paddle 100 miles you’d have to go around the lake once, for at least 34 days. Either goal is easy with a few drops of commitment.
Setting any physical goal for next summer can only be positive. Get outside. Get healthy. Hike, run, bike, paddle, whatever. A goal of 100 miles is not about “which island or continent is next” for sure. It’s about finding adventures in your own back yard, and protecting personal time in a frantic world. For my part, I’ll be staying in the Midwest for the 2011 summer season. There’s classes to teach, symposiums to attend, work to do, and all the rest. Somewhere in the middle of it all I’m going to slip in another 100 miles in my boat to mark the Centennial of Devil’s Lake State Park, the midwest’s most popular natural destination.
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