Before her sudden death four months ago, Kristine Chaput was one tough mudder fudder.
She once bagged a deer with a bow. She played two varsity sports at Pembroke Academy. She moved alone to Missouri and emerged as a leader of an outdoor sporting goods giant.
And she competed in something called the Tough Mudder, which is why her core group of childhood friends have formed Team Kristine and will participate in a half Tough Mudder today at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
This weekend’s Tough Mudder program is part of a national circuit, featuring an 11-mile romp around the speedway’s camping area. An estimated 5,000 participants will run, climb, swim and get really dirty, covering 20 man-made obstacles.
That’s the way Chaput, who was 27 when she died in a car crash, liked it. Chaput never minded getting her hands dirty. She was equal parts tomboy, free spirit, rebel and outdoors woman.
“It will be exciting because we’re doing it for her,” said Julia Fuentes of Goffstown, who grew up with Chaput and the old gang in Allenstown. “This is the stuff she did all the time. We’ll kick ass, but it will be sad because we would probably not be doing this if she hadn’t passed, but she wouldn’t want us sitting inside doing nothing. She would want us to go crazy, so that’s what we’re doing.”
The group included nine school girls back in the day. Nine crazy school girls, who, incredibly, remained close through the years. Only one original member won’t be there today.
They had sleep-overs as kids, went to Christmas parties, talked about boys, congregated while back home during college breaks.
They formed a bond that stayed strong, a bond that meant they picked up right where they’d left off after not speaking for a few months, once mortgages and husbands and kids’ runny noses got in the way.
Kate Sizemore is a dental hygienist in Weare. She was involved in student government at Pembroke Academy. Chaput was a jock.
Didn’t matter.
“We were not sisters by blood, but we were sisters in another way,” Sizemore said. “That’s how we liked to describe it. We could go months without talking, then if we ever needed each other, we knew we were there for each other.”
The nine blended nicely together, but my reporting revealed an additional nugget: Chaput was a “badass,” Sizemore said, always thinking and acting outside the box. And when you’re a badass, rules, regulations and consequences sometimes don’t matter.
“She was very outgoing and very outspoken,” Sizemore said. “She was adventurous and crazy and she lived life to the fullest and she did what she wanted to do and she was awesome.”
“She was a spitfire every day and she didn’t follow any rules, things like that,” added Fuentes. “She was a free spirit, that’s for sure.”
Chaput played field hockey and softball, her No. 1 sport, at Pembroke Academy. She loved to hunt and stay in shape, and Sizemore said that her friend had strong arms and legs.
She began participating in Tough Mudder competitions recently. A quick tour of the speedway this week showed all sorts of man-made obstacles, which were hauled in and assembled starting three weeks ago.
There are ropes and fake rocks for climbing walls, bodies of water created with tarpaulins, lots of scaffolding, T-bars, and open, rocky, dusty spaces for flat road racing. There are things called the Funky Monkey, the Blockness Monster, Electroshock Therapy, and, my personal favorite, the Arctic Enema.
Toughness is needed to move under a fence in water, with barely enough room to lift your nose to breathe.
Chaput was tough, and she tried to lure the old gang into her Tough Mudder world. No one would bite, however.
“She was super outdoorsy, a super hard worker, said Allison Juranty of Canterbury, another member of the Allenstown Nine. “She asked and some didn’t think they were in shape. It’s pretty intimidating, some of the obstacles, so I think some of us just kind of felt we were not physically ready to do it.”
Their mindsets changed on April 22, when Sizemore said Chaput lost control of her jeep on a gravel road in Missouri and was killed in the ensuing crash. Chaput worked at Bass Pro Shop, one of their leaders in promoting the sport of hunting.
(Sizemore made sure I knew that neither texting nor drinking had anything to do with the accident).
The girls held a Christmas party in July to honor their friend, using one of Chaput’s flannel shirts to make ornaments, and inviting Santa Claus to entertain the kids.
“There was anxiety leading up to it,” Sizemore said. “We made the best out of the circumstances.”
This morning’s Half Tough Mudder, half the distance of the event Chaput used to do, is the group’s ultimate tribute to their late friend.
Fuentes hired a personal trainer to prepare and said she’s ready to go. She said she’s in the best shape since Pembroke Academy.
More than a competition, the Tough Mudder features camaraderie, teammates helping others scale to new heights.
“We figured if we did the half one, more of the girls would be willing to do it,” Juranty said. “The more athletic people are going to help the ones who are more nervous about it.
“I think it will be a good group thing for all of us to do together.”