In conquering MacColl obstacle course, locals run, jump, climb and get muddy... real muddy
LINCOLN — Local resident and Lincoln Middle School eighth-grader Aiden Fletcher was quite content getting down and dirty in the mud on Saturday. The slop, he said, cooled him off on an otherwise muggy morning.
The middle school track star, known at school for his performance in the 400-meter race, was one of several hun- dred participants in the eighth-annual “Reviver Challenge,” a 2.5-mile obstacle course that extended around the MacColl YMCA’s grounds and into the adjacent woods and back, with obstacles including monkey bars, mud crawls, and cargo rope walls.
Fletcher, visibly exhausted after just completing the challenge, said “it’s pretty hard” when asked about the grueling obstacle course. He said the hardest part was carrying a 15- to 20-pound cinder block up a hill, saying it was nothing like what he’s accustomed to on the middle school’s track-and-field team.
“It’s been two weeks since I ran, I figured I probably should run again,” he said. Fletcher said he started the race like he does when he’s in the 400-meter run – exploding out of the gate and hustling – but he quickly found out that’s not the ideal strategy for this 2.5-mile
challenge.
But by the time he got to the mud crawl, he said, he welcomed it as an opportunity to cool off by slogging through the slop.
“The mud cools you off, so it’s easy after,” he said.
North Smithfield resident Cat Reyes, the challenge’s founder, said the course provides more than just a family-friendly exercise on a Saturday morning, it raises needed funds for a host of charities. Money from this year’s race goes toward Mayan Families in Guatemala, Central Falls’ Kids in the Canyon, and Evan’s Crew, named after 11-year-old Evan T. Mandeville, who lost his battle to Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma in 2012.
“It’s great,” she said as she noted the size of the crowds in this year’s competition. “It is what it should be. I work like a dog and I’m happy with whatever the results are.”
“It’s an obstacle course to help people believe in themselves and to overcome obstacles,” she explained.
“We’re all going through struggles. If they come and believe in themselves, they can get through anything.”
As for the muddier parts of the race, which are now in their second year, Reyes said: “You’ve got to get down in the dirt. You’ve gotta get muddy.”
With the funds raised from this year’s challenge, Reyes said, they will take a group of volunteers to Guatemala this summer to build a playground for the residents of the Central American nation.
Corey Farley of Worcester was in Lincoln for the race along with five students from Grafton Job Corps, a Massachusetts-based career technical training program. He said he didn’t participate to see how quickly he’d finish, but rather to ensure that he had the self-motivation to finish.
“It makes me feel good,” he said, noting that the students all set goals and met them on Saturday.
While Farley runs half-marathons, he said he’s never been involved in anything quite like the Reviver Challenge.
“It’s good exercise for a good cause,” he said.