Changing a successful event of any kind, especially one with as proven a track record as the UPS Plane Pull, can be a nerve wracking experience. But this year Special Olympics Kentucky found itself with no choice but to re-tool the 12-year old fundraiser in the face of shrinking availability at Louisville Airport. The result was the first Big Brown Truck Pull presented by ResCare and the results were outstanding.
The event, held Saturday, Oct. 11 at 4th Street Live in Downtown Louisville involved teams of 20 from local companies and organizations vying to see who could pull a UPS 18-wheeler 12 feet in the shortest time. The pull route ran right through the Louisville entertainment complex. Nearly 50 teams took part, competing in Co-ed, Men's and Women's Divisions and this year's action produced some of the closest results for this type of event in Special Olympics history.
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The UPS Big Brown Truck cut an imposing
figure coming out from under one of the
4th Street Live! Walkways. |
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The Co-ed Division produced produced a rare tie, with Citi Cards II and HCA-NPAS producing times of 3.13 seconds on the first of their two pulls triggering a tiebreaker. HCA-NPAS ended up capturing the Division Championship by a mere .03 seconds with a time of 3.25 on their second pull.
A brand new team captured the Women's Division, with the UPS Fly Girlz dragging the truck down 4th Street in a time 3.69 seconds.
It was the Men's Division though that once again produced the most drama. The Cole's Crew/Justin Graphics team set the pace early in the day with a time of 3.27 seconds as the first Men's team to pull. They saw several teams take shots at that mark throughout the day including the Super Constructors of Sullivan Cozart, Inc. who fell just .07 seconds short. But once again, on the final pull of the day it was a familiar name that sat atop the Men's leaderboard. Four-time Men's Champion UPS RAIDers had the final say in the Men's Division with the last pull of the event. On their first effort they fell short of the Cole's Crew mark, and since no team all day had improved from their first pull to their second things didn't look good for them to continue their reign. However, the RAIDers dug deep on their second try and posted the day's only sub-3 second time at 2.97 to win their fifth straight title.
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Team HCA-NPAS celebrates its winning pull in the Co-ed Division. |
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See complete Pull Results
While they weren't able to capture the Co-ed Pull title, the Citi Cards II team did not leave 4th Street Live empty handed. The masters of the team cheer contest, Citi produced a George Clinton-style funk, dance song that sent the Big Brown Truck Pull crowd into a frenzy, capturing their fourth consecutive Spirit Award championship.
One long-standing tradition of the UPS Plane Pull that had gone largely unrecognized was that of teams producing matching shirts for the event. For years, many of these shirts have been very creative undertakings that mixed a company's identity with the event. This year, Special Olympics Kentucky opted to recognize this tradition with an award for the best team T-shirt. The inaugural T-shirt award went to event
co-sponsor LINAK for this shirt (Click to View front; back).
The fundraising awards both went to presenting sponsor ResCare. The ResCare pull team raised an eye-popping $12,218 beyond the company's sponsorship of the Big Brown Truck Pull. ResCare's David Miles raised $4,387 of that total to claim top individual fundraiser honors.
Click Here to View/Purchase More Photos From the 2008 Big Brown Truck Pull
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Citi Cards II performs it's Spirit Award-winning team cheer at the 2008 Big Brown Truck Pull. |
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Throughout the day there was a much different feel to the event than its years at the airport with the mass of spectators able to line 4th Street, just a few feet from where teams were making their pull attempts or to line the walkways above 4th Street to watch the teams take part. The location provided a stadium atmosphere that had to make the participants fell a little like professional athletes.
In all a little more than $130,000 was raised by the Big Brown Truck Pull in its first year to support Special Olympics Kentucky. Our thanks to nearly 1,000 people who raised money and took part in the event, to the many volunteers who put in a long day to help run the Big Brown Truck Pull and to our 2008 sponsors — ResCare, LINAK, UPS, Texas Roadhouse, 4th Street Live!, 99.7 DJX, 105.1 WLRS, The CW Louisville, CBS Outdoor, The Kentucky Law Enforcement Torch Run, Louisville Mojo and Lucky Strike Lanes.
For information about how your company or organization can Put Its Weight Behind Special Olympics at the 2009 Big Brown Truck Pull presented by ResCare, contact Candace Thompson at 502-326-5002, 800-633-7403 (in Kentucky) or cthompson@soky.org.
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