While pumpkin spice lattes and apple picking may come to mind when thinking of autumn, at the Dartmouth YMCA, the season was ushered in with feats of physical prowess – some of which involved mountains of mud.

The Fall Family Festival, held this past weekend at the Y, had a bit of everything for families to enjoy, such as pumpkin painting, games, hay rides and food. But the day also had families on their feet with dancing, a road race and archery. The biggest draw was arguably the Kids Mud Run.

The Sharing the Harvest Community Farm, the 4-acre field behind the Y’s main building, was transformed by volunteers into an elaborate obstacle course, complete with mounds of dirt to climb, tires to traverse and pools of muddy water to swing across.

Gabriel Amaral and wife Angela, of Somerset, were there to escort their son and daughter through the course. It was the family’s first race together. Amaral noted that his kids were enthusiastic to have a chance to play in the dirt.

“They finally got to get all dirty and nobody could complain,” said Amaral. “It was fun to watch them have fun.”

When asked if she had a good time crawling through the mud, Amaral’s 8-year-old daughter, Peyton, emphatically stomped the ground and shouted, “Yes!” She and the rest of her family later ran the circuit a second time.

Olivia Crane, 9, who ran the race with a group of her friends, said many of her friends were returning to the race after participating last year. The girls agreed that getting caked with mud, something their parents don’t typically allow, was a liberating experience.

So parents could avoid loading muddy children into the back of their cars, Alfred Demelo and Charles Silva from Fire District 1 had a firetruck parked near the finish line and volunteered to hose off runners.

The festival featured various demonstrations throughout the day, including a martial arts expo from the Dartmouth YMCA Tang Soo Do classes led by Master David Roderick. The martial artists, all age 14 and under, performed a series of moves before an audience.

“Martial arts isn’t about striking and punching, it’s about a whole life. How we treat other people, how we want to be treated, and helping the community,” Roderick said.

Michael Dowhan, who brought his 1-year-old to the event, said he liked giving his son an opportunity to interact with other kids and activities at the Y.

Dowhan said part of the reason he stopped by the Fall Family Festival was because Chace loved the Touch-a-Truck event from last May so much.

While he and his son didn’t participate in the Mud Run, the two took notice.

“I can’t wait for him to be a little older so he can try that,” Dowhan said.