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83-year-old Sikeston woman to compete in Tough Mudder event
SIKESTON — For some, age is just a number. Nothing could be truer for Mildred Wilson.
Wilson, 83, of Sikeston, will be competing in a Tough Mudder in Wentzville, Missouri, on May 1. Tough Mudder is a three-mile endurance event where participants go through 13 obstacles with names like Kiss of Mud, Everest, Mudderhorn and Electroshock Therapy.
“I really enjoy it,” Wilson said.
This is not the first time Wilson has done something like this as she has competed in other Tough Mudder events and in 2020 took part in a Conquer the Gauntlet event in Arkansas.
As part of her running in the Conquer the Gauntlet, Wilson raised money for her son’s youth group to build a fresh water well in Africa. Her son, Danny Wilson, is the youth pastor at Bethel Assembly of God in Cape Girardeau and takes part in the obstacle courses with his mother as well.
Wilson, who raised $12,000 in 2020, will once again be raising money for her son’s youth group to put another fresh water well in Africa. and has a mo
“A well costs $65,000 but the company that is building it gives it a lifetime guarantee,” Wilson said. “For $25, one person can drink clean water for a lifetime.”
In 2020, Wilson was running in honor of her husband, Farrell Wilson, who died after getting COVID-19 and then having a heart attack while being treated for the virus. This year, she is running for even more.
“I’m not only doing this in memory of my husband, I’m doing it to honor my daughter in-law Tanya Wilson, who is battling pancreatic cancer,” said Wilson, who is setting a goal of raising $5,000.
Wilson is very active but doesn’t train specifically for the Tough Mudder.
“I play pickleball three times a week,” Wilson said. “I started working out with weights but mostly I just play pickleball now and I walk.”
She said the courses are all different, but some of the obstacles are pretty tough.
“The last one I did had seven trenches filled with water and it was slippery,” Wilson said. “That was tough. And if they have the vertical wall, that is crazy. It is hard.”
But there are plenty of obstacles Wilson enjoys, like a water turbine obstacle that involves a team and pushing a wheel.
“I think my favorite is the cargo net. It is tall and you have to climb up and over,” Wilson said.
Wilson not only enjoys the obstacles, but running with her son.
“He runs the 10-mile (Tough Mudder) on Saturday and then he does the shorter one with me on Sunday,” Wilson said. “He keeps an eye on me.”
Donations for Mildred Wilson toward the well can be sent by texting Cape Bethel to 888-364-4483. Choose Speed the light in the pulldown menu.