Pawtucket Times

Rain and mud make race all the merrier at MacColl YMCA Reviver Challenge

- By JONATHAN BISSONNETT­E jbissonnet­te@pawtuckett­imes.com

LINCOLN – Woonsocket residents Melvin Figueroa and Melanie Asencio didn’t mind if their son Bryson and his cousin Adrian got their clothes muddy on Saturday morning. In fact, they encouraged it.

The family members were standing in the outfield grass of the MacColl YMCA’s softball field, soaked in sweat, caked in mud, and with various grass and dirt stains covering them from head to toe. But beneath all of that detritus, the four family members all had smiles that extended from ear to ear.

They had just completed a grueling 2.5-mile obstacle course that extended around the YMCA and into the adjacent woods and back, with obstacles including monkey bars, tire mountains, mud crawls, and cargo rope walls, known as “The Reviver Challenge.”

“It’s pretty cool … It was cool inside the hills, there’s a lot of rough terrain,” Figueroa said. “I’d recommend anyone to do it. It’s for a great cause … I’m happy I did it.” Figueroa wore a GoPro mini camera on his forehead during the challenge to capture the memories and the experience of completing this challenge alongside his family.

According to North Smithfield resident Cat Reyes, the challenge’s founder, the course – now in its seventh year – provides more than just a familyfrie­ndly exercise on a Saturday morning, it raises needed funds for a host of charities.

Initially founded as a way to fundraise for Providence’s Christ Community Church – the race still recruits hundreds of volunteers from the church and community – money from this year’s race goes toward Mayan Families in Guatemala, Central Falls’ Kids in the Canyon, and Evan’s Crew, named after 11year-old Evan T. Mandeville, who lost his battle to Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma in 2012.

“It’s just amazing, it’s open to kid of all ages, everyone here today is passionate for the cause and raising money for charity,” Reyes said. “We try to be a light in the world, to revive the body and spirit … We overcome obstacles (in the race) so others can overcome the true obstacles in life.”

Reyes said that the race is run as a way for everybody to win, for participan­ts to have a healthy way to spend the day while benefiting others with charitable endeavors.

The crowd of hundreds that filled the field at MacColl YMCA was breathtaki­ng for Reyes, who remembers the challenge’s humble roots years ago.

“People come out and we’re just blown away by these incredible contestant­s. It gets better every year,” Reyes said, as she had just finished completing the course, which had obstacles built by her husband.

The newest addition to this year’s course was a welcome one – mud.

Donna Ravo of Lincoln and Olivia Foley of North Attleboro had just completed the course, with the last leg of the race being to crawl through pools of mud on the dirt infield at the MacColl softball field. The team of nurses from Rhode Island Hospital united to take on the Reviver Challenge, with Ravo saying that the mud and walls were the most interestin­g aspect of the race.

With the funds raised from this year’s challenge, Reyes said, they will take a group of 25 volunteers to Guatemala this summer to build a community garden. She said that will help the residents of the Central American nation while creating a self-sustaining method of planting, growing, and eating healthy fruits and vegetables.

And while not everybody who participat­ed in Saturday’s challenge will be able to travel to Guatemala to see the fruits of their labor, all who crossed the finish line received a special momentum and would be going home with plenty of memories to remember how they’ve impacted the lives of others.

 ?? Photo by Jonathan Bissonnett­e ?? North Smithfield friends Ellie Strong, Emelie Mandeville, Jessica Karspeck, Calla Puccetti and Janie Wilkes are all smiles despite being caked in mud at the conclusion of the Reviver Challenge, held on Saturday at the MacColl YMCA in Lincoln.
Photo by Jonathan Bissonnett­e North Smithfield friends Ellie Strong, Emelie Mandeville, Jessica Karspeck, Calla Puccetti and Janie Wilkes are all smiles despite being caked in mud at the conclusion of the Reviver Challenge, held on Saturday at the MacColl YMCA in Lincoln.
 ?? Photos by Jonathan Bissonnett­e ?? Above: Olivia Foley of North Attleboro emerges from the mud pool at the Reviver Challenge.
Photos by Jonathan Bissonnett­e Above: Olivia Foley of North Attleboro emerges from the mud pool at the Reviver Challenge.
 ??  ?? Below: From left, Jack Martins, Jaydon Jarvis, and Alex Cyr of North Smithfield show off the end result of a day spent at the Reviver Challenge.
Below: From left, Jack Martins, Jaydon Jarvis, and Alex Cyr of North Smithfield show off the end result of a day spent at the Reviver Challenge.
 ?? Photo by Jonathan Bissonnett­e ?? Participan­ts take off from the starting line at the Reviver Challenge in Lincoln on Saturday.
Photo by Jonathan Bissonnett­e Participan­ts take off from the starting line at the Reviver Challenge in Lincoln on Saturday.

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