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Knee deep in muck
By Denise Dick
Canfield
It’s not every day you get to play in the mud at school.
But that’s what students — and some teachers and administrators — at Mahoning County Career and Technical Center did Friday as part of the school’s end-of-the-year picnic. It marked the second year for a mud run, or “mudder,” and even temperatures that dipped into the 40s couldn’t keep them away.
“We did it last year and everybody had a lot of fun, so we decided to do it again this year,” said Principal John Zehentbauer, who dressed in camouflage shorts and a T-shirt to run the course.
The relay was divided into legs, with a member from each team taking a leg.
For the first leg, participants carried a 50-pound sandbag a few yards before diving into what they called the Arctic Plunge. A shallow pool filled with icy water and topped with a crisscross of strings forced runners to get drenched to get through.
Canfield senior Tyler Tabor completed the first leg for his team, tearing off his wet shirt and wrapping himself in a dry towel shortly after.
“Right when I was about to do it, I thought, ‘What am I doing?’” he said with a laugh.
Next they ran through the woods before tackling the Web of Terror, a web of ropes they had to navigate.
Then came the Muddy Maze where participants waded into the muck of a pond behind the school, trudging through the reeds to get to the other side. The depth of mud slowed the pace, and many shoes were lost.
“I went back and looked for it, but I didn’t find it,” junior Andrea Precurato from Austintown said of her missing footwear. “I just threw the other one away.” She brought an extra pair as a precaution. Mud covered her legs, and splatters dotted her face.
Next came Dress for Success where students and teachers donned a used prom dress before running to the slip-and-slide, plastic sheeting covered with soapy water, and the finish line.
Andrea, a member of a team called the Eminems, wasn’t even sure how the group stacked up against its competition.
“It was a lot of fun,” she said. “It was more about having fun than trying to win.”