Families take the Tornado challenge
There was mud, foam, hay, and a whole lot of fun Saturday at Alameda Park in Butler Township.
The third annual Tuff Tornado Run — a two-mile course featuring 20 obstacles, benefitting the Golden Tornado Scholastic Foundation — returned after a year's hiatus. The event was not held last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We had no concern about participation in bringing it back this year,” said Ellen Scott, executive director of the foundation. “People want to get out and the weather is absolutely beautiful.”
Indeed, people came out.
Audray Muscatello Yost, chairperson of the Tuff Tornado Run, said 488 people either ran or walked the course Saturday. There were 300 participants in 2019, 250 in the event's first year.“I went to Rhode Island to visit family five years ago and my grandchildren were involved in a run like this,” Yost said. “I loved it. I knew right away I was bringing this back to Butler.“This is my baby. It keeps getting better. Next year, we'll add more obstacles.”The event is already adding more funds to the foundation. It raised $15,000 for it in 2019 and Yost anticipates at least $20,000 was brought in Saturday.
“The foundation is involved in a lot of things,” she said. “The Tornado Tuff Run raises funding for creative teacher grants, the Kids Weekend Backpack program and technology in the schools.”More than 15 adult volunteers were on hand Saturday, along with more than 30 student volunteers from Junior ROTC, National Junior Honor Society, National Honor Society and Starfish, to help run the event.
Sam Zurzolo, a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer and a Butler Township commissioner, was instrumental in putting many of the obstacles together and getting them on the course.“I've been out here (at Alameda) for a couple of days getting things ready,” Zurzolo said. “Audray deserves the credit, though. She sinks so much time into this.“I told her that you do the thinking, I'll do the worrying and we'll all have a lot of fun doing it.”Participants were wide-ranging in age, from small children to older adults. Many families did the course, the majority of people completing it in less than a hour.Obstacles included sliding through tubes, an army crawl, mini-climbing walls, sack race, color run, a Ninja line and scaling bales of hay.Most popular were a mud trail and a huge puddle of soapy foam.“We don't make it too hard because it's a family-oriented event,” Yost said. “I'm 73 and I was able to walk through it.”“The foam was my favorite thing,” 9-year-old Molly Mahood, a Chicora resident, said. “The Ninja line was the hardest.“I did this two years ago ... I just like it.”
Adam Stutz of East Butler brought his wife and four children to complete the run.“It's a good time, for kids and adults,” he said. “It's nice because it's something we can all do together. I like running through the woods. The kids loved the obstacles.”Karen Earhart, of Center Township, did the Tornado Tuff Run for the first time.“The sack race was harder than I thought it would be,” she said. “The foam at the end of the course was really cool.“Absolutely, I'll do it again. This was a blast.”
Jennifer Amerson, of Butler, had trouble with the “mud run” portion of the course.“That mud was pretty thick. It was hard to lift your feet up,” she said. “You could get your shoes stuck in there. It just added to the fun. I'll do this again.”The Tuff Tornado Run was particularly challenging to 47-year-old Cindy Earhart. Two years ago, she used a walker to get herself around and didn't even attend the event.On Saturday, she completed the course without a walker — despite still being in need of two knee replacements.“It was the support of family,” she said. “They kept challenging me to come out and do it.“The volunteers on the course were so kind and kids just walked or ran by me. I was able to go at my own pace and just walk around obstacles I couldn't do. This was such a well-run event.”Yost insists it will get bigger and better yet.“This whole thing is a true sense of community,” she said. “So many people, adults and kids, give of their time to make it happen.“Successes like this come from people working together.”
