Boalsburg Cub Scouts hold Cub Olympic event

BOALSBURG — Boalsburg is a long way from Rio de Janeiro, but both towns hosted Olympics this year. Of course, the Boalsburg event was on a much smaller scale — Cub Scout Pack 380 held its annual Cub Olympics at Blue Spring Park on Sept. 11.

Four teams of four Cubs each were led by event organizer Kevin Bender and Cubmaster Marvin Sanders in 10 different athletic events. They warmed up with the den stretch, then competed in nine events which tested their athletic abilities and Scouting skills.

The first competitive event was the dash, a relay race on a course marked by orange traffic cones and white lines on the grass.

Cubs then participated in push-up and sit-up contests. The winning teams did 88 push-ups and 100 sit-ups in the two minutes of time allowed.

In the piggyback event, one Cub carried another across the course on his back, then switched positions for the return trip. Lots of stumbles and falls were seen, producing much laughter among the Scouts.

A favorite event was the wheelbarrow race, where one Cub walked on his hands while another held his legs like the handles of a wheelbarrow. Once again, roles were switched for the trip back up the course.

Some Scouting skills were tested in the stretcher carry, in which the Cubs learn and demonstrate the skill of creating a stretcher from two hiking staffs and a blanket, and then carry an “injured” Scout on the course. This event was not a race, but rather a demonstration of skill and teamwork. All went well until the adult leaders portrayed the injured men, leading to a few of the stretchers and Scouts collapsing, resulting in more laughs.

The crab crawl was a relay race with Scouts assuming crab-like positions on their hands and feet and crab-walking down the course backwards, then running back to tag the next crawler.

The final event was the ring toss, where the Cubs tossed large foam rings made from pool noodles over kneeling Scout leaders, all while racing the clock. The winning team threw eight rings, narrowly beating the second-place team by one ring.

The first place Olympians were the Zombie Penguins team, followed by the Great Britains, the Chicken Turtles and the Punching Bags. The Cubs chose the names for their teams.

Sanders and Bender are both longtime Cub Scout leaders for the Boalsburg pack.

“I started when my son was 6 years old. He’s 31 now,” said Bender. “I enjoy it more than they (Cubs) do.” Sanders has been leading the Cub pack for 23 years, and his wife, Elaine, also assists in leadership of the pack.