Anyone who competed in the house race, please contact: Walter Ferguson 140-8Stoneybrook Dr. Eden, NC 27288 336-623-5790 home 540-632-9831 work |
December 12, 1981 How long does it take to move a double-wide mobile home 50 yards? An incredibly short three minutes and 40 seconds, according to Walter "Truck" Ferguson (pictured third from the left), who was among 95 powerlifters invited from across the eastern U.S. who did just that on a frigid afternoon on Radio Hill in Canton, North Carolina. It was December 12,1981, when powerlifters from throughout the country and a 120 Mars Hill athletes competed in a house race. The 34,000 pound houses were to be carried 50 yards. When the race began, both teams struggled to even lift their respective houses. The team of Mars Hill athletes got the jump and surged forward about five feet before the powerlifters had even lifted their house. Once the powerlifters began to move their house, they quickly moved by the stalled athlete's house and proceded to carry their house to within 4 yards of the finish line where they stalled. The powerlifters (who were called big ole' boys that can't move by the so called athletes) regrouped and moved the house across the finish line as the Mars Hill athletes watched. The event was witnessed by over 5000 people and produced and filmed by the ABC TV show That's Incredible that aired before a worldwide audience Febuary of 1982. The house was powered by such heavyweights as Johnny Howie, 1980 Mr. North Carolina and champion powerlifter, and Paul Wrenn from Tennessee, a world champion powerlifter. The cadence was called from the roof of the house by bodybuilding champ Carla York. Paul Wrenn, who has wowed local audiences by driving nails through wood with his bare hands and lifting men with his teeth, said house racing was devastating. I'm dying! I'm dying! was his only comment moments after the race. Walter "Truck" Ferguson once told me that he felt like his lungs were raw after the race, due to the cold weather. He said it was one of the hardest things he had ever experienced. |
"That's Incredible" Canton House Race |
Anyone who competed in the house race, please contact: Walter Ferguson 140-8Stoneybrook Dr. Eden, NC 27288 336-623-5790 home 540-632-9831 work |
