Starting October 1, Jeff Ladieu plans to run the entire length of New Hampshire, 222 miles from Pittsburg on the Canadian border to Nashua near the Massachusetts line, in just ten days. He's covering it 22 miles at a time, one for every veteran the country loses to suicide each day, according to Camp Resilience, the nonprofit he leads.
Who's behind it
Ladieu is the executive director of Camp Resilience, a New Hampshire nonprofit that runs no-cost retreats and wellness programming for veterans, service members, first responders, and their families. He's also a retired captain with the New Hampshire State Police and a former U.S. Army Ranger, credentials that put him in exactly the population Camp Resilience exists to serve, according to Yahoo News.
The run, called Run for Resilience, is aiming to raise $100,000 to fund the organization's programs for the year ahead, per Behavioral Healthcare Network. Local businesses have already started pitching in, including a fundraising dinner night at a regional restaurant chain to help push the total toward the goal.
Why one run, ten days
Endurance events built around a cause aren't new, but the pacing behind this one is deliberate. Twenty-two miles a day for ten days is a distance built to be finished, not just survived, and that is the point Camp Resilience is making with the route itself. Recovery from trauma, whether it comes from combat or from a career spent responding to other people's worst days, is also about pacing, community, and showing up again the next morning. Running the length of an entire state turns that idea into something people can watch happen, mile by mile, in real time.
A model OWF recognizes
Operation WarriorFit exists because crossing a finish line, and training for one, can be part of getting well. Runs like this one are a reminder that veterans and first responders do not have to do that work alone, and that programs built specifically for this community, from Camp Resilience's retreats to OWF's free race entries, exist because the need behind them is real. If a story like this one is the nudge you needed, take a look at what's available near you or check your eligibility for a free race entry of your own.