The ninth annual Truck Pull for Special Olympics Saskatchewan took place Saturday to raise money and awareness about Special Olympics athletes and sports in the province.
Teams of eight to 10 people competed with one goal in mind: Pulling a 15-tonne truck 15 metres the fastest.
“It has been a couple of years since we’ve been able to do the truck pull event but this will be our ninth time going and we are really excited about it,” said Victoria Lacelle, director of marketing and development at Special Olympics Saskatchewan.
After two years of waiting to compete, the athletes were finally given the chance to claim victory.
Dylan Morin, whose team took home the gold, said he has been a Special Olympics athlete for 11 years.
“It was an awesome experience, and we came in first but that’s not the meaning of it,” Morin said. “It was an awesome experience raising awareness for Special Olympics.”
Morin and his team were able to pull the truck 15 metres in just 11 seconds.
Darcy Koch, the superintendent for the support service division of the Regina Police was one of many police officers who put in a team to compete for the win.
“We are part of the community and we want to make sure we are seeing the community and supporting the community as best we can and it’s a great event to be at,” he said.
And while the truck pull was the feature, people were just happy to be together.
“The (athletes) absolutely love it and they love to come out and have the pancake breakfast and visit with everyone,” Lacelle said.
All the funds raised from the event go towards Special Olympic programs being affordable and available for athletes all over Saskatchewan.