How the 52-Hike Challenge helped carry on a family tradition of ‘love moments’ in nature

Tiffany Xiong is mom to three young children and External Engagement Manager for the Constellation Fund, a philanthropic organization that uses an evidence-driven approach to end poverty in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul region of Minnesota. When a friend invited her to run the 200-mile Ragnar team relay race, she agreed — and realized immediately that she’d need to get creative in finding time, and ways, to train.

Photo courtesy of Tiffany Xiong

“My husband and I both have full-time jobs, we have three kids ages five and under, and there’s a global pandemic going on,” she says. “It’s hard to find time to do anything outside the necessities of family, school and work.”

Tiffany started hiking as part of her Ragnar training and found it was something she could do with her family. They enjoyed it so much that after completing the race in August 2021, Tiffany signed up for the 52-Hike Challenge. For most people, this means completing one hike per week over the course of a year. Tiffany’s family started the 52-Hike Challenge in September 2021 with a goal of completing it by the end of the year. This would require 52 hikes in just four months.

“COVID disrupted so many things for our kids,” says Tiffany. “We wanted to find ways to keep them happy and healthy. I thought about my own childhood experiences in the outdoors with my dad. It might have been easier to train for Ragnar by myself, but I knew that I wanted to include my kids in some way. We all loved hiking so much that we decided to keep doing it as a family when my race training was over.”

Tiffany’s dad, Nhia Xiong, came to the U.S. in the 1980s with a wave of Hmong refugees fleeing wars that had ravaged their homelands in Laos. Spending time outdoors fishing and hunting was a way of life for him and he shared his love of the natural world with his children.

“I knew that my dad didn’t have an easy life or a lot of modern amenities in Laos, but he told us vivid stories about how glorious it was to be outdoors,” Tiffany says. “My dad wasn’t big on words of affection or hugs like some parents. His way of showing love was spending time with me outdoors. He’d say, ‘Oh, I see your fishing line is tangled,’’ and he’d reach over to help. Those quiet moments beside him on a river or on a trail… those were our love moments.”

“Those moments have stayed with me. As a parent, I want my kids to have the same kind of experiences and sense of connection, even when the world is busy and chaotic,” she continues. “It’s the quiet moments that make you realize what matters and who matters.”

And so, she embarked on the 52-Hike Challenge with her husband Kong Cheng, 5-year-old Maddy, 3-year-old Maria, and 1-year-old Maxwell.

“Our biggest challenge was time,” she says. “To reach our goal, we needed to take three to four hikes per week. As working parents, we had to pick up the kids, get everybody fed, plan the hike, and sometimes we just felt tired. Plus, starting in September meant we’d be hiking through the winter. I wasn’t sure we could do it.”

But they did, and as a family, they had wonderful experiences along the way.

“Looking back at our 52-Hike photos, I noticed how often we asked Maddy, our kindergartener, to lead,” says Tiffany. “She’s always been a little shy and timid. Leading our hikes helped her build confidence and become more adventurous.”

“Maria wanted to be just like Maddy. Sometimes we had to give her piggy-back rides, but she really wanted to keep up and felt so proud when we would finish a hike,” Tiffany continues. “And Maxwell was always clamoring to get out of his hiking carrier. He loved walking and collecting sticks.”

Most of the family’s hikes were close to home. “We often hiked to a nearby park and back,” says Tiffany, “but sometimes, we took full-on hiking adventures” — like a trip to the scenic Redhead Mountain Bike Park on Minnesota’s Iron Range, several hours north. “In general, we don’t see a lot of Asian families hiking, but up at Redhead, I felt very aware that we weren’t white. It’s important to me to normalize Asian families in the outdoors for my kids. I want them to see me, and other people who look like us, enjoying outdoor activities so that they feel like they belong.”

Tiffany has some tips for hiking with young kids. “Our must-haves were water and snacks. It also helped that Maddy was really into it; she encouraged her younger siblings. And we made it fun. Whenever we finished a longer, arduous hike — usually farther from home — we’d stop and get souvenir T-shirts to celebrate.”

Completing the 52-Hike Challenge had many benefits. “Prior to this, it felt like we were always trying to spend more time outdoors, but not succeeding. Having goals and some structure for Ragnar and for the hiking challenge helped get us out the door. And the kids got more and more excited about each hiking accomplishment.”

“But what really stands out for my husband and me is that we found an affordable, accessible way to spend quality family time, even when things were uncertain. We went back to our roots, passing down our love of the outdoors to our kids, just like my dad did for me. We are making outdoor time a part of daily life, for the long game. And we’re creating all kinds of ‘love moments’ with our kids.”

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