Luke Orton crawls through the tire obstacle at Alameda Park during the 2022 Tuff Tornado Run in support of the Golden Tornado Scholastic Foundation. Butler Eagle File Photo

After participating in the Tuff Tornado Run, almost any other fun run children will take part in will seem a little easier.

The annual fundraising race for the Golden Tornado Scholastic Foundation started in 2018, and its 2-mile course — packed with obstacles, including hay bales, mud, slime and foam — has made the event successful each year since.

Audray Muscatello Yost, chairwoman of the Tuff Tornado Run, said the action for foundation members starts the day before the race.

“There is a team of us who go out Friday morning. We'll be putting orange on the tree roots that are sticking out, anything we think could be dangerous,” Muscatello Yost said. “We start out with the noodles, you jump over them or run around them. There's probably about 50 we put out. We have stakes we put on either end. There's the hay bale jump where there's hay bales you jump over.”

The fifth annual Tuff Tornado Run takes place Sept. 30 at Alameda Park, and its organizers expect hundreds of people to participate. John Reddick, vice president of the foundation’s board of directors, said that even last year, when the race was plagued with rain showers, about 300 people still showed up.

“We raise about $14,000 to $15,000 each year, which helps the foundation’s mission,” Reddick said. “It also helps children get integrated into races and introduced to fun runs.”

The ability for families to run the race together made the event a draw originally, and Reddick said children being able to run and get dirty with their parents has helped keep up community interest in the event.

“Parents and their kids doing it together, I think that’s really cool,” Reddick said.

A family of six can preregister to run the race for $50, a cost that Muscatello Yost said helps make it affordable. It also has made it easier for entire families to get together for a weekend event, she said.

“Under 5 is free, then 5 to 13 is $15 and over 13 is $20,” Muscatello Yost said. “For a family of up to 6, it's $50, so we get a lot of families. It's $5 more for each category if you don’t preregister.

“Funds go to creative teaching grants, the backpack program, wherever it is needed in schools.”

The race is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 30. Muscatello Yost said she and the other members of the Golden Tornado Scholastic Foundation look forward to the event every year, because everyone has a good time setting it up and running it.

“They're laughing, they're smiling, they're having such a great time,” she said. “They are getting dirty, but they have a good time getting dirty.”

For more information about the Tuff Tornado Run, or to preregister, visit goldentornadoscholasticfoundation.org.

Henry Meiser runs the course at Alameda Park during the 2022 Tuff Tornado Run in support of the Golden Tornado Scholastic Foundation. Butler Eagle File Photo