Are you up for climbing over walls that are at least twice as tall as you are? How about carrying weights up hills, crawling under nets and walking on a teetering wooden plank akin to an oversized seesaw?

Oh yeah, and getting dirty while you’re doing it. Really dirty.

Sound fun? Sound exciting?

If so, and you’re at least 14 years old, consider entering the Makahiki Challenge, a 5-kilometer run that tests mental acuity and physical endurance through a dozen different obstacles. It gets its name from the four-month period in ancient times when Hawaiians stopped all work and warfare to celebrate the harvest and honor Lono, god of agriculture.

Makahiki season began in late October or early November and went through February or March. During that time of peace, Hawaiians enjoyed feasts, played games and held religious ceremonies.

“Our Makahiki Challenge revives the celebratory and competitive spirit of the traditional Makahiki,” said Kapu Gaison, the event’s race director and one of its founders. “You can compete either individually or as a team. The theme is ‘Get Lepo (Dirty),’ and that means you sometimes have to literally get down and dirty to really experience life to the fullest. There’s something rewarding about losing your inhibitions and being like a kid with no worries.”

Participants who want to forgo the usual T-shirt and shorts and get creative with their attire are encouraged to do so. In past years, people have shown up in a hula skirt, malo (loincloth), bomb suit and gorilla costume. They’ve even dressed as pirates, leprechauns and Harlem Globetrotters.

Gaison and four other Kamehameha Schools graduates launched the Makahiki Challenge in 2012. He had participated in obstacle-course races on the mainland and wanted to start something similar in Hawaii.

“Hawaii has great weather, incredible landscapes, people who love being active outdoors — everything that’s needed to make an obstacle race successful,” Gaison said. Gaison teamed with his brother, sister and two friends to create the competition.

To keep the course fresh, about half of the obstacles each year are either new or modified. Last year, Gaison was a national finalist on “American Ninja Warrior,” a TV show that follows competitors as they tackle obstacle courses in cities across the country. Some of the Makahiki Challenge’s obstacles have been inspired by his training for that grueling competition.

This year, participants will have to conquer Balls to Da Walls — climbing over a 12-foot wooden wall. In the Quad Burners segment, they’ll have to carry sandbags, logs, water-filled plastic pipes or some other heavy weight up a hill.

Two obstacles have been on the course every year: Suicide Slide, where competitors slip and slide 100 feet down a hill, and Da Pits, where they wade through muddy water up to chest-deep.

Only a few heats are timed, so there’s no pressure: You can go through the course at your own pace and even skip obstacles that look especially daunting.

Gaison is expecting more than 2,000 people, both competitors and spectators, this year. And the following day, for the first time, a Keiki Makahiki Challenge is planned, geared for elementary school-aged athletes.

“We love getting people outdoors to enjoy Hawaii’s beauty, get some exercise, push their limits and do things they never thought they could do,” Gaison said.

“In the process, they’ll find out how fun and cathartic it is to release their inhibitions and get lepo!”

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.