By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

WILSONVILLE—Get muddy for a good cause on Sunday, March 15, at the Mudder for Missions run in Wilsonville sponsored by Bethel Baptist Church.

A twist on a 5K run, the race resembles a large obstacle course, complete with 20 obstacles, including a mud pit, rope swing, mud crawl and 100-foot slip and slide event coordinator Joanne Entrekin said.

“It’s really muddy, messy fun,” Entrekin said, adding “100 percent of the proceeds” go toward funding the church’s annual mission trip to South America.

Entrekin and her husband, John, started the mud run three years ago as a fundraiser for Bethel Baptist Church.

“I was tired of bake sales,” Entrekin said with a laugh. “I wanted something new and fresh.”

Since then, the run has become an annual event, seeing more than 140 participants last year and raising more than $4,500 for the church.

“It’s a way for the community to come together and have fun together,” Entrekin said. “It draws people from all over.”

This year’s event will kick off at 2 p.m. at Breakaway Pointe in Wilsonville, and will feature both a 5K and a fun one-mile mud run. Barbecue will be available for purchase throughout the event as well.

“It’s fun for the whole family,” Entrekin said. “Anyone from walking to 80 years old can do it.”

Registration for the event is $45 per runner, and all proceeds will benefit the Bethel Baptist Church’s annual mission trip. This year, members will travel to Arequippa, Peru.

“They go door to door and evangelize in small communities,” Entrekin, who has been on two mission trips with the church, explained. “(They) plant a church.”

For more information or to register for the Mudder for Missions run, visit Mudderformissions.com.