Get Tuff this weekend
The Tuff Tornado Run presents a grueling challenge — 22 obstacles placed over a 2-mile course that get participants sweaty, covered in color and, above all else, muddy. But still, people actually taking on the course often smile the whole time.
Audray Muscatello Yost, a board member for the Golden Tornado Scholastic Foundation, said the event has become a family affair and tradition for many people in the area. This year’s event, which is Saturday morning, Sept. 27, at Alameda Park, already has nearly 370 people signed up to take on the course.
The course is similar to how it was in previous years, but, Yost said, the tried-and-true formula is still fun for people who have done the run in the past.
“We have the car wash, and when you run through that it washes you off like a car wash. We have noodle free-for-all, swim noodles and there’s probably about 70 noodles that you jump over or run around,” Yost said. “We got 125 pounds of color for the run.”
The event is a fundraiser for the Golden Tornado Scholastic Foundation, and money is used to fund its Kids’ Weekend Backpack Program, creative teaching grants and helping update technology at Butler Area School District, according to Yost.
The event also features food trucks and 50/50 raffles throughout the morning.
The event is not just fun for the runners — Yost said around 40 people are volunteering to help run the event this year, including the setup and tear down of the obstacles.
“We probably have at least 30 to 40 adult volunteers, because we need a lot,” Yost said. “At each of the obstacles we have at least one adult and one student helping.”
The Tuff Tornado Run takes place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Alameda Park. Race-day registration opens at 9 a.m., and on-site registration is open from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The fee is $20 for ages 5 to 12; $25 for ages 13 and older; and $55 for a family of up to six members. If you are signing up with a team, everyone on your team must sign up at the same time.
For more information, visit goldentornadoscholasticfoundation.org/tuff-tornado.
