Race Across America with the One Mile Project and Hope for the Day

This guest blog was written by Kenedey Ward, Director of Project R.E.D Team.

Race Across America is the World's Toughest Bike Race that occurs every year during the second week of June. Starting with its flagship race in 1982, for the last 39 years, soloists or teams of 2, 4, and 8 cyclists have accepted the challenge of relay cycling over 3,000 miles without stopping from Oceanside, CA, to Annapolis, MD, to challenge themselves and raise money for causes they are passionate about. This year, Team One Mile decided this was the year they wanted to put eight riders on the road to accept the challenge for those in the veteran community suffering in silence from mental health challenges and diagnosis related to service by fundraising for Project R.E.D Team at Hope For The Day.

As the Director of Project R.E.D Team, I was elated when Kris Bachman and Mike Campbell, Co-Founders of the One Mile Leadership Project, reached out to me and asked if I'd serve as not only a taxi driver for one of the night vehicles but also as the voice of their cause to break stigmas and end suicide in the veteran community on the road. Like other identity intersections, veterans experience unique mental health challenges often highly stigmatized and misunderstood in communities across the globe. Statistically, 22 veterans and active-duty service members complete suicide every single day in the United States. With knowledge of this statistic, Kris and Mike made it their mission to develop a team of riders and crew members passionate about minimizing this number. Thus, the mission of riding and raising awareness against the epidemic for those veterans suffering in silence was born.

On June 19th, we took off from Oceanside, California, with eight riders and 18 crew members, all of who had a personal connection to this cause. Each individual apart of the team, including riders, had a unique role in the rolling success of this mission. The riders and crew switched off every 12-hours with four riders on the road at a time. Crew member roles varied from shift chiefs navigating logistics for transportation and safety, to nutrition: making sure all riders and crew were fed and hydrated appropriately, to drivers who were behind the wheel 12 hours at a time, to navigators who assured every vehicle was on the road safely, to transition services making sure the riders on the road were getting on and off the road safely and adequately taken care of in-between shifts, to bike mechanics and a team doctor! Each of these individuals served their role with dog tags around their neck of a service member in personal relation to someone on the team who had completed suicide or died of military-connected injuries.

The eight riders consisted of:

Mark James, U.S Navy Seal
Jaime Cancel, U.S. Army Veteran
Michael "Dreamchaser" Smith, The First Above-The-Elbow Amputee to Be Found Fit For Active Duty
Ben Dodge, Race Across America Two-Man Finisher + Bicycle Attorney
Lex Albrecht, Professional Canadian Cyclist
Don Davy, Former Defensive Lineman for the Greenbay Packers, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Ironman Athlete
Farah Foster-Manning, Canadian Actress
Mike Campbell, Co-Founder of The One Mile Leadership Project

The 18-person crew was a mix of U.S. Navy Seals and Spouses, Professional Race Directors, Mental Health and Medical Professionals, Registered Dieticians, an Olympian, Mike Mechanics, and multiple Fitness Professionals and Influencers. All 26 of us brought our personal experiences along with our hearts into this journey to make sure each of us got out of if what we put into it.

While on the road, we experienced many inconveniences, including but not limited to three different bus changes and a dangerous situation involving racism on the road against one of our racers, but as a team, we used them as lessons for growth. We supported one another through thick and thin. Knowing the mission as veterans and family members ourselves, we served with strength and focus. As the Night Crew Chief, Rachel Martin, emphasized many times, we just kept pushing.

While on the road, we were able to stop at various Veterans of Foreign Wars Posts, Gas Stations, Veterans War Memorials, Walmart Stores to share resources with veterans. During the night and daytime hours, we distributed mental health crisis resource cards, bracelets, and mental health guides to serve as connective tools for individuals to start the conversation and get educated. We met SO MANY family members and veterans who thanked us for starting the conversation and praised the mission as individuals who had experienced the same challenges and struggles we were riding for.

On June 26th, after many parking lot showers, road meals, sleepless nights, life-changing conversations, dance parties, Facebook lives, profound bonding, and endless memories, Team One Mile completed 3,037 miles for Race Across America in 6 days, 13 hours, and 3 minutes finishing First Place Overall for Mixed Teams. It was a moment none of us will ever forget. Unfortunately, the proactive conversation surrounding veteran mental health is still in its infancy. Still, Team One Mile, without a doubt, helped catalyst this conversation into new communities by starting the conversation to Remind Everyone Deployed, It's Ok Not To Be Ok.®.

If you are interested in learning more about Team One Mile, please visit their website at www.theonemileleadershipproject.org. To recap and see more of our journey on the road, please visit @teamonemile on Facebook, where you can watch all the live streams from the race, and @weareonmile on Instagram, where you can see the journey documented in pictures.