The Way Home Challenge: 48 Miles, 48 Hours, and a Mission to Support Veterans

Some challenges are about proving what you can endure. The Way Home Challenge is about something bigger: supporting the veterans who endured more than most of us will ever know, and helping them find their way home.

What Is Warriors & Quiet Waters?

Warriors & Quiet Waters (WQW) is a Montana-based nonprofit that creates meaningful experiences in nature for veterans and their loved ones. Those experiences help them reconnect, grow, and find purpose. Time outdoors, shared with people who understand, gives veterans space to slow down, heal, and rebuild the connections that matter most.

For many veterans, coming home is its own long journey. WQW meets them with community, nature, and purpose, three things that make the road a little less lonely.

The Way Home Challenge: 4 Miles Every 4 Hours for 48 Hours

This past weekend, Jack Hays took on the Way Home Challenge, also known as the 4x4x48: run 4 miles every 4 hours for 48 hours. That adds up to 12 runs and 48 miles, one 4-mile stretch at a time. Between runs there is barely enough time to eat, stretch, and sleep before the next alarm.

The challenge is less about speed than about showing up again and again, even when it gets hard. That is the same spirit WQW helps veterans carry forward, and every mile was run in support of their mission.

Forward Farms: A Montana Company Giving Back

The challenge is supported by Forward Farms, a Montana-based company proud to back a local nonprofit and the veteran community it serves. For Forward Farms, WQW’s mission hits close to home. They believe deeply in the power of nature, community, and purpose, and those values run through everything they do.

Forward Farms beef is born and raised entirely in the USA, from grass-fed, grass-finished cattle raised without added hormones or antibiotics. The company is committed to caring for the land and supporting the communities that make American agriculture possible.

5% of Every Purchase Supports Warriors & Quiet Waters

From October 11 through Veterans Day on November 11, Forward Farms is donating 5% of every purchase to Warriors & Quiet Waters. Whether you’re stocking the freezer with ribeyes and ground beef or picking up a jar of grass-fed beef tallow, your order helps veterans and their families find healing in nature.

How You Can Help

• Shop Forward Farms at forwardfarmsusa.com between Oct. 11 and Nov. 11. 5% of every purchase goes to Warriors & Quiet Waters.
• Learn more or donate at warriorsandquietwaters.org.
• Follow along on the Forward Farms Instagram stories to see Jack’s 48 miles, 4 miles at a time.
• Share this post to help more people find the mission.

Every mile, every order, and every share helps a veteran find the way home.