Just then the announcer made her way to the podium. “Greetings, and welcome to Rugged Reaper! Are you all ready?”
The kids all screamed, “Yeah!” in unison.
“Good! Now, because the top three teams will advance to the national quarterfinals, we’ve made this course extra challenging. There’s a special, never-before-seen final obstacle!” the announcer bellowed. “When the pistol fires, begin! Good luck!”
The starter pistol blared, and the kids ran to the first obstacle, the massive mud run. Tanisha and Derek took off through the quarter-mile of mud, dodging the dirt the other kids were splashing up as they ran.
A few kids fell face-first into the mud, causing a chain reaction. Even some of the cameramen got caught up in it. Staying upright, Derek passed them by, followed by Tanisha.
“Janet was smart to make us use those ankle weights!” Tanisha yelled.
“Definitely!” Derek hollered back. “We’re almost out of the mud!”
The two finished the mud run and ran quickly to the second obstacle, the baited belly crawl. It was a forty-yard ground crawl under a net.
Tanisha and Derek wiggled under the net and started crawling. Just in front of them, some kids got tangled in the net, slowing them down.
Maneuvering past them, Tanisha crawled quickly on the ground like a mini-locomotive. Derek trailed behind her.
“The net up ahead is hanging low, so don’t get tangled, Derek!” Tanisha warned.
“Gotcha. Thanks, partner!” Derek said.
After what seemed like an eternity, Derek and Tanisha exited from the belly crawl. They ran with the other kids to the third obstacle, the sit-up situation station. There were adults stationed there to make sure each teammate did fifty sit-ups.
Tanisha and Derek got to their station and started their repetitions. Tanisha flew through her fifty sit-ups. When she finished, Derek still had twenty-five more to go.
Tanisha got up and cheered her teammate on. “Come on, Derek! You can do it!”
Tanisha was really impressed with how far Derek had come. He finished his sit-ups, and they began running again.
“We’ve got a half-mile run until our next station,” Tanisha said. “Let’s go!”
CHAPTER 7
BALANCE, SWING, AND HOLD ON!
Nearing the completion of the half-mile run, Tanisha and Derek were in second place. They were making great time on the course so far.
Around the bend was a volunteer water station to make sure the contestants stayed hydrated. As they ran toward the station, Tanisha saw a familiar face standing there, holding cups of water.
“Terrell?” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”
“Trying to be supportive,” her brother said, handing her a cup. “Now, don’t get distracted by me. Go, go, go!”
Derek and Tanisha both gulped some water and kept running. Soon they arrived at the next obstacle station, the stability beam and swing. It had sets of extended balance beams and a rope swing at the end. A pool of water had been set up underneath the whole obstacle.
“The first-place team is only halfway across the beams. We’ll catch up with them for sure!” said Derek.
Tanisha began to make her way slowly along the balance beam. Behind her, the other teams were starting to catch up and test their skills on the beam. Most of the kids went too fast and fell in the water, meaning they had to start all over at the beginning of the beam.
Tanisha was almost to the end of the balance beam. She grabbed the rope to swing toward dry land when she heard … SPLASH!
Derek had fallen into the water right before reaching the end of the balance beam. He now had to go back to the beginning of the beam and start all over.
“Oh no!” Tanisha cried out after landing on the ground. The teams behind her raced to the next station, putting Tanisha and Derek out of second place.
“I’m sorry, T!” Derek shouted. He crossed the beam again, making it to the end this time and grabbing the rope. He swung to dry land and landed next to Tanisha. “I’ve messed up everything!”
“No, you haven’t. Stop beating yourself up, and let’s move!” Tanisha yelled as they raced to the next station, the push-ups of doom.
Each team member had to do one hundred push-ups before being allowed to move forward. Most of the teams were struggling. Everyone was exhausted from the course.
Tanisha grinned. This was the perfect opportunity to catch back up.
An adult watched as they each did one hundred push-ups and were cleared to go to the next station. Their training was paying off!
“We’re not too far from the fourth-place team. We still have a chance!” Tanisha said as she and Derek ran down the trail.
“Get ready for the infinity monkey bars!” Derek warned.
Derek started on the monkey bars. Tanisha was right behind him. Halfway through, she started to tire. She tried desperately to hold on.
Like the balance beams, if a contestant fell before completing the bars, he or she had to start all over. Instead of a pool of water below, however, it was a pond of mud.
