Tuff Tornado finish line means fun, funding
Audray Muscatello-Yost will see one of her highest step counts the weekend of Oct. 1.
She will walk the same path that will later be crossed by other people trekking through mud, crawling under tires, jumping over hay bales, sprayed by foam and more, at Alameda Park on Saturday, Oct. 1.
Muscatello-Yost said the physical exertion that day will be faced with her smile, as she marks any bumps along the course, as well as the children and parents taking on the Tuff Tornado Run.
The fun run raises money for the Golden Tornado Scholastic Foundation. The course will feature 21 obstacles at this year’s run, including two new additions — a rope bridge and a slime run.
“The children have so much fun with all of it, but especially the run. I know they’re going to love the slime run,” said Muscatello-Yost, a foundation board member and team leader for the Kids’ Weekend Backpack Program. “When you watch these families do it and they are laughing and so much fun, it's all worthwhile.”
This will be the fourth annual Tuff Tornado Run that the foundation has hosted to raise money to support its programs, including the Kids’ Weekend Backpack Program, which feeds hundreds of students in Butler Area School District’s elementary schools. Muscatello-Yost also said money raised through the run will fund creative teaching grants and providing “much-needed technology” to the school district.
Last year’s run had around 500 participants, Muscatello-Yost said, and another 500 spectators, raising around $15,000 for the foundation.
Muscatello-Yost said that while the events are made to be somewhat challenging, they are meant to be accessible to many people.
“People to their 80s can probably do it,” Muscatello-Yost said. “If you can't do (an obstacle), you can just go around it. It's called a fun run, but you can walk it if you want.”
The run parts of the event will be accompanied by food trucks and a DJ spinning tunes.
Muscatello-Yost said she is happy the event has gained so much popularity in its past three years, especially seeing that it was adapted from a similar event in another state.
“I was visiting my daughter and grandchildren in Rhode Island, and they had a ‘Tuff Tiger Run,’ and I thought that we’ve got to bring this back to Butler,” Muscatello-Yost said. “The following year I went back to Rhode Island to prove that I could do the run, and any age could.”
The Tuff Tornado Run will be from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, at Alameda Park. Pre-registration for children age 4 and younger is free; ages 5 to 12 is $15; and 13 and olderr is $20; for a family of up to six people, pre-registration costs $55, and can be completed at goldentornadoscholasticfoundation.org. The cost of on-site registrations will each be $5 more than the listed pre-registration price.
