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CNO Photos by Dylan Knoop
Over 400 runner participated at Chenowith Trails in the first ever run for The Apache Troop Gauntlet and
the Light Foundation. Runners were forced to run the military style obstacle course, all for charity.
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Matt Light joins forces with Ohio National Guard
Charity event draws big numbers
By George Starks
LIBERTY TOWNSHIP- Matt Light and The Matt Light Foundation hooked up with National Guard member Saturday at Chenowith Trails.
The goal would see two charity organizations benefit from the event.
Right
at 400 runners took part in what will hopefully be an annual event to
benefit The Apache Warrior Support Team and The Light Foundation.
In addition to the 400 mentioned, Light said 115 kids were on hand for the kid’s race.
For
the runners, the course was a 3.1 mile military obstacle course that
saw runners trying to conquer the water, mud and rope walking in an
effort to have the best time possible.
The Light
Foundation is well known in Darke County but the Apache Troops, a
National Guard group is a group of military men and women that have a
common goal.
To help military families who are separated from their active duty service men and women.
"This
is the first year for the event," said Light. "Next year, we hope to
have nearly a thousand runners here. We had an adult course and a kid’s
course. So for the first year, it's wonderful. With some feedback and a
few suggestions, we could hit a thousand next year and that would be
great. Half the proceeds will go to help us in what we do at the Light
Foundation with the other half going to the Apache Troops. It's a
winning deal for everyone. No one loses."
According to Light, it was an idea that wasn't his.
"We
had some people in the community that thought this would be a great
idea that would support our cause and theirs," Light said. "It was a
great joint effort. Everyone pulled together and with the volunteer
efforts of everyone, this was made possible and it all came together.
Our volunteers are great people and that's the one thing we are
prideful of here in Darke County is the fact we have people with good
hearts and they give back to the community. Even the explosives that we
hear to start the races are donated by a buddy of mine. So at the drop
of a dime, everybody kind of finds a way to come together and get
things done. That's how we've been able to do thing at times and it
works for us."
The planning for the Apache Gauntlet started in March.
Five months later, the race was on.
"In
the March-April timeframe, the steam on this really got rolling," Light
stated. "There was work being done before that but March-April was when
the ball really got rolling. A lot of hours went into the planning of
this event to make it all come together."
It's all a military theme adventure race that some refer to as a mud race
"These
warrior dashes and adventure type races are very popular right now and
everyone loves them," Light pointed out. "We have a great facility
(Chenowith Trails) to host one of these so we were able to take
advantage of what we have here and host one of these things. Chenowith
Trails and the National Guard is a great combination."
With
Light being a former NFL star, hooking up with the military in a
charity event was a natural fit for the Super Bowl Champion.
"In
my entire career, the game of football has always been a big supporter
of our service men and women and the efforts they put forth.
It's
hard to put yourself in their shoes but on thing you can do is give
back and make an effort to make a difference to them while they're away
and this is one way we can do it and it means a lot to us."
Light said his crew will be looking in to a way to make the event even bigger and better in the future.
Light said there are two websites to go to if one wishes to know more or to get entered into the 2013 run.
The websites are theapachetroopgauntlet.com and mattlightfoundation.org.
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