2022 Wiffle Ball 5K | A Grand Slam for Camp Lebanon

THE MISSION A team of twelve men gathered at Camp on Saturday, June 11, committed to keep swinging until 5,000 wiffle balls left Legends Field. And they did it! At 10:02 PM, just under fifteen hours after the first swing, homer number 5000 cleared the left field fence. What a moment! The team of “wiffle ball sluggers” hugged and cheered, partying like they just won the World Series! What a huge achievement! But there was an even bigger reason to celebrate. The Wiffle Ball 5K exceeded the funding goal in raising $35,901 for Camp!

IMPACT ON CAMP LEBANON $35,901 goes a long way in elevating the impact of Camp’s ministry and will help fund several projects: 1. Hazzard Tubing Hill upgrades including lights and mechanical tow rope. 2. 180 ft Beaver Point Boardwalk extension. 3. Two new docks for swimming and fishing.

The tubing hill project will be a huge hit with overnight winter guests, but in time there is also real potential to reach thousands more who wouldn’t have otherwise stepped foot on Camp’s site! Beaver Point is another dream come true. Exceeding the $30K goal helped cover the second dock!

BY THE NUMBERS All of you stats lovers will enjoy this! In total, 5000 home runs were hit in 14 hours and 52 minutes, an average of 336 homers per hour and 5.6 homers per minute. If each home run traveled an average of 115 feet, the distance covered would total 575,000 feet (108.9 miles!) That doesn’t count all the swings (and whiffs!) not resulting in a home run.

Total swings weren’t tracked, but based on 20 per minute (one every three seconds) a total of 17,840 swings were taken, which works out to one home run per 3.57 swings. The sixth hour was the best hour (443 homers hit, 7.38 / minute) and the first hour ended up being the worst (266 homers hit, 4.33 /minute).

On an individual basis, Andy Peterson led all hitters by hitting 776 home runs—more than Barry Bonds’ MLB career record of 762 lifetime home runs.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY The day was filled with fun moments, but the highlight came in hour twelve when kids and adults from Pequot Lakes Baptist Church had their chance to take a round of swings and chip away at the 5,000 home runs. Over the past three years, these kids and adults have been a huge help shagging balls and encouraging the guys, so to see them add thirty-six home runs was truly touching and amazing!

NEXT YEAR? Lord willing, the Wiffle Ball 5K will be back in 2023! The guys are working on new ideas and twists that will allow more people to be in volved in what has become an annual tradition and blessing to Camp. Over the past three years, the wiffle ball home run marathons have raised a total of $79,417.50! In 2020, the funds helped Camp open as a Family Resort during COVID. Last year, the money covered the cost of Camp’s big top tent.

Praise God!