McAlester News-Capital, McAlester, OK

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  • McAlester bass-fisherman Lester “Ripper” Wray will compete in this Saturday’s Race the Reaper obstacle course in Sparks, Okla. Matt Goisman

    Lester "Ripper" Wray

  • Obstacles such as climbing rope, seen here at the 2011 Race the Reaper event in Oregon but among the 20 built for Saturday’s competition in Sparks, Okla., should remind Lester Wray of his military training. Photo courtesy of RacetheReaper.org

    Race the Reaper rope climb

  • This A-frame of monkey bars from the 2011 Race the Reaper event in Oregon will be among the 20 obstacles McAlester’s Lester Wray will face when the six-mile competition comes to Sparks, Okla., on Saturday. Photo courtesy of RacetheReaper.org

    Race the Reaper A-Frame
August 29, 2012

Lester “Ripper” Wray to Race the Reaper Saturday

By Matt Goisman Sports Writer

SAVANNA — The obstacle course is a classic component of army training. The course’s various elements demand the same skills — running, crawling, jumping, climbing — soldiers will need to survive on the battlefield.

For Lester “Ripper” Wray, a McAlester bass fisherman and Vietnam War veteran, the Race the Reaper obstacle course he’ll run Saturday in Sparks, Okla., will reverse the obstacle course-war relationship: his experiences in actual combat will impact the way he runs the course.

“I’m doing it for those that served in the army, navy, air force, marines, but mostly my brothers that didn’t make it back from Vietnam,” Wray said Wednesday.

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