Participating community members will be knee-deep in mud during this coming Saturday’s first annual Mud Run sponsored by No Turning Back, a non-profit organization in Picayune dedicated to sponsoring mission trips and awarding scholarships to students.

On Aug. 22, participants will get the chance to walk, run and crawl through 12 muddy obstacle courses to support the organization’s mission to expose students to the word of God, said Laura White, a member of No Turning Back.

White has a deep connection to the organization, as it was founded by her family in honor of her late brother Jacob “Jake” Farron Moeller.

Last year, Moeller was killed by a drunk driver several days after he arrived home from a mission trip, White said.

“In his memory, we started No Turning Back. Since we were exposed to his experience in mission work, we noticed many kids deprive themselves from nice things to save money for mission trips,” White said. “We decided to help them out financially to go on those trips and carry the torch that Jake lit for us.”

White said the organization’s name was inspired by a written quote left behind by Moeller. His family found an index card in his room after he passed reading, “I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back,” White said.

The non-profit organization emerged from those written words.

When Moeller’s family shared his index card via social media, family, friends, the community and people across the country rallied behind the phrase and used it on T-shirts, billboard signs and social media, White said.

“Before we knew it, we were in the middle of creating an organization,” White said.

The organization decided to hold a mud run to honor Moeller’s memory while raising money for their organization. White described Moeller as being “very athletic” so it “seemed like a no-brainer to hold a run of some sort because that’s something he would’ve done.”

The mud run will begin at 5 p.m. at Moeller’s family’s farm located at 98 Moeller Rd., Picayune.

Interested parties can register online at www.noturningback.org by clicking the mud run registration link. Participants can also register on race day starting at 4 p.m. Registration costs $30.

After the race, the organization will provide food and drinks to participants, White said.

More than 200 runners have already signed up to participate.

“We’re very excited. I had no idea it would be this big the first year. It’s really humbling to see the support from our community,” White said.

The organization will use the proceeds raised to go towards providing scholarships and sponsoring mission trips to students, White said.

For more information about the organization, visit their Facebook page and website at noturningback.org.