While hauling a fully-loaded UPS truck 12 feet isn’t a Special Olympics sport — at least not yet — it is a great way to help McCracken County Special Olympics.
The 13th annual Big Brown Truck Pull, held on Saturday at Heartland Church, raised $36,000 for a local group.
Eleven teams raised funds to be able to move the truck 12 feet in the shortest amount of time. Each team received a $750 donated entrance fee, with $50 going to each of the 15 team members. Teams received a third draw for an additional $1,500 donation.
McCracken County Special Olympics’ Jeanna Keith and Debra Shockley were happy with both the turnout and the outcome.
“Our first objective was $30,000,” Keith explained. “As a result, we exceeded our target. It was smaller this year than in previous years, but it’s also not downtown, where the traffic is.”
“It was fantastic – gorgeous weather,” Shockley added. “We want to thank everyone who came out and helped our organisation.”
Teams competed in one of three categories: men’s teams, women’s teams, and coed teams, which had to have at least six women on its roster. The men’s and women’s divisions were won by the Four Rivers Nuclear Partnership last year, and they defended their title claim on Saturday. The men’s team, the FRNP Pull Platoon, had a best pull of 5.93 seconds, while the women’s team, the FRNP Mother Truckers, had a top pull of 9.09 seconds. UPS Brown Bullies demonstrated that they could have their truck and pull it as well by winning the coed division with a best pull of 7.12 seconds on their third pull. The FRNP Mother Truckers and Mighty Moms were two additional teams who had three pulls and got their best times on the third.
The McCracken County Special Olympics delegation took the first pull of the day and won the youth class with a best pull of 6.07 seconds.
McCracken County Special Olympics has a Facebook page where you can learn more about them. Soky.org has more information about Special Olympics in Kentucky.
Donations to McCracken County Special Olympics should be mailed to: McCracken County Special Olympics, 218 Cody Cooper Road, Ledbetter, KY 42058. Make checks payable to McCracken County Special Olympics.
