The Krutzas were just one family to cross the finish line at the second annual Hullabaloo Family Obstacle Course Challenge on Saturday.
Drew Krutza and his 6-year-old son Calvin finished the mile-long obstacle course at Kereiakes Park before his wife Amanda and 4-year-old son Silas. As Silas cleared a climbing pyramid and approached the finish line with his mother, Drew Krutza cheered him on. Silas said crawling through a large black tube was his favorite obstacle.
“Just trying to complete something together was fun,” Drew Krutza said of the event.
Eric Logan is the executive director of Light of Chance, an organization that provides community arts and wellness programs to kids. All proceeds raised at the event go to the nonprofit’s Get Set Go wellness program, a health initiative that encourages local kindergarden through 8th-graders to become more healthy and active through physical activity and nutrition, according to the organization’s website.
Logan said the goal of the event is to “humanize obesity” similar to cancer awareness events. Organizers estimated about 250 people showed up to run the course, which has about 17 obstacles and added new ones this year, Logan said. Along with the course, families could have their picture taken for free and receive it through text message.
“I just think that it’s important for us to be active as a community, as a family,” Logan said.
Debra Logan, Eric Logan’s mother, volunteered at the event by registering participants and handing out or selling T-shirts. She said the participants seemed excited both before and after the event. That excitement extends to her son who she said gets “hyped up” about the event.
“It just means the world to him,” she said.
Claire Klein completed the course on a team of four families that included a dozen kids and four adults. She described the course as having “just a little more adventure to it than just running.” The money raised also goes to a good cause she said.
“It’s raising money for high-risk children to keep them educated and keep them involved in good fun with positive role models,” she said.
Jackson Helm, an 8th-grader at Drakes Creek Middle School, participated in the event with his family and friends.
“It’s tiring, but it’s fun,” he said of the course.
Of all the obstacles, Jackson found the climbing wall to be his favorite. Jackson said the event gets you “closer connected to your family” and helps you stay active.
Christie Helm, Jackson’s mother, went through the course as a way to spend time with her son.
“I think every time we do stuff together like this it’s just a bonding experience,” she said.
As a mental health therapist, Helm encounters childhood obesity, which she says causes kids to suffer from low self-esteem and makes them victims of bullying.
Lauren Cunningham, board member of Light of Chance, said the organization brings in WKU employees to counsel kids on healthy lifestyles.
“We just try to teach kids how to overcome those psychological barriers that can negatively affect us physically,” she said.
By: AARON MUDD
amudd@bgdailynews.com