Slowtwitch: Can you tell us how the 31/31/31 challenge idea came about?
Mike Rouse: The whole idea of 31 for 31 for 31 actually started in July of 2012 when I helped start the Joggin for Frogmen 5K Race and 24 Hour Run in San Diego. My dear friend and running buddy, Navy SEAL Jon “JT” Tumilson was on Extortion 17. Trisha Snelgrove and Aleeza Goggins met with me and we established
Joggin for Frogmen to initially be held around the first anniversary of the event.
I ran for 24 Hours on the 5K (3.1 mile) course, with each loop being run in honor of one of the crew members, until I had run for all 31. Immediately after I finished, we held the race to honor those heroes. It was a great success and is still going today. We’ve added eight other 5K races across the US to the series. To date we’ve raised about $2.6 million for The Navy SEAL Foundation. They are underwritten by The Veterans United Foundation, allowing all proceeds to go to the charity. It’s been such a great opportunity to raise not only funds, but also awareness of the sacrifice of those 31 lives, and their surviving families.
This year, due to all of the postponements and cancellations of almost all races, we have had to switch our events to virtual races. It’s great to offer the alternative, but we do not have the same entrant numbers and there’s not that face-to-face opportunity to share the stories of those men. It’s tough, but it’s the right thing to do under the circumstances. All that said, after the first 30-plus days of being at home, not working, no travel, and starting to get generally bored to death, but also having the time and energy to do a lot of running and thinking, I came up with the idea of doing an event to further raise funds and awareness of the 31 Heroes of
#Extortion17.
After much thought and consideration, I started planning and came up with 31 for 31 for 31. Run 31 miles a day, celebrating the 31 Heroes, for the 31 days of May. And since May includes Memorial Day, honoring the ultimate sacrifices of our military, it just made sense! The timing, my desire, my fitness, and my admiration for these men and their families, took me to a plan of promoting this amazing group. I called up my dear friend, Morgan Luttrell, to get his thoughts and a possible charity, and he suggested
The Boot Campaign, which serves our military with issues of PTSD, mental illness, depression, and other associated issues upon their return to society. I jumped on it, and the plan was put in progress!