Running, throwing and hauling will be the order of the day during the second annual Ranger Stakes competition Saturday.

The competition is sponsored by NIU’s ROTC Ranger Club.

Saturday’s competition will feature events designed to push participants to the edge, Cadet Joe Stupak said.

“The goal is to build an esprit de corps within the detachment and provide the cadets with physical training and take them past their physical and mental limits,” Stupak said. “They’re going to see what they’re made of.”

Initial challenges consist of the Army Physical Fitness Test, a grenade toss and a litter carry that will involve two-man teams carrying 60-pound sandbags on stretchers, Major Pete Yedinak said.

Aside from the fitness test’s two-mile run, competitors also will face a 10-kilometer march and an unknown distance run.

“They’re just told to run, so they gotta pace themselves,” Yedinak said.

An as-of-yet unspecified mystery event also will be introduced, he said.

Rangers are part of the Army’s elite special operations forces and are considered widely to feature some of the most intensive military training in the world.

“In order to be a ranger, you have to hold yourself to a higher standard,” Stupak said.

In the fall, the NIU program will compete against other schools in the Ranger Challenge Competition.

The Ranger Stakes competition will be held at 8 a.m. Saturday at the Student Recreation Center. Entrance fees are $15 per team.