KAILUA-KONA — Cheers erupted from a crowd of dozens at Kona Commons Saturday morning as a team of athletes from Special Olympics West Hawaii tugged and pulled a 36,000-pound touring bus 30 feet across the parking lot, kicking off the 2016 Bus-A-Move Muscle Throwdown.
“It’s the most fun you’re ever gonna experience,” said Carl Stewart, a Humpy’s employee who competed on a team representing the restaurant at the event.
Each of the eight teams paid a $300 entry fee to benefit Special Olympics West Hawaii. At the blow of an air horn, a team of no more than 10 pulled at a rope attached to the bus, trying their best to move the vehicle 30 feet in the fastest time, said bus pull fundraising chair Denise Lindsey.
“It’s pretty difficult to get 36,000 pounds moving,” she said. “And you never want that momentum to stop.”
The event also included a separate contest in which each participating team pulled a UHaul truck 15 feet. The team that successfully completed the pull in any time with the lowest total body weight was named the winner.
Lindsey said this is about the 15th year the bus pull has been held.
Stewart, who manages security for Humpy’s, said he came to the 10 a.m. event with just a few hours of sleep after ending his work shift at 2:30 that morning.
Despite not getting much sleep the night before, he said, seeing the group of Special Olympics athletes complete the pull gave him the boost of energy he needed.
“That was motivation for me for the rest of the day,” he said.
This was Stewart’s third time participating in the event. He said he enjoys having the chance to give back to the community and he believes Special Olympics needs more support.
His first year, he said, he wasn’t sure what to expect but said the enthusiasm of everyone in attendance ultimately convinced him to keep coming back.
“I was just so motivated,” he said. “I said, ‘I’m gonna do this every year I can.’”
Stewart also said the competition is more than just a matter of sheer strength, saying it requires strategy, too. Their strategy paid off. The Humpy’s team placed first in the bus pull.
The event also attracted other veterans of the event, including Jeff Lee, who competed with The Club.
“The energy of the athletes is so amazing,” Lee said.
Like Stewart, Lee also said the bus pull requires muscle and brains.
“And we’re about half good at both,” he said.
That said, he noted, victory at the bus pull isn’t the only goal.
“It’s not about winning,” he said. “It’s about trying to win.”
Lee added that he appreciates the way that local businesses support the Special Olympics’ mission to give their local athletes an opportunity to compete on the world stage.
“They’re so easy to support because of that,” he added.
The event also included the Echo City Knockouts, a local roller derby team who participated in the pull.
Elizabeth Elkjer said they’ve competed the past three years and are typically the only all-women team to participate.
“As an all female-team we try to represent female empowerment and female athleticism,” she said. “We always have a lot of fun.”
Special Olympics West Hawaii is 100 percent funded by fundraising and some grants, said Lindsey, making it all the more important to support each event.
Lindsey said she hopes the event grows, with her own personal vision of being able to host an airplane pull some day.
The organization is also hosting an upcoming “Sushi and Sake” fundraiser at the end of October.