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By KATE BANVILLE
Successful tourism hinges on the experience as much as it does the destination and one rural community in Far North Queensland has taken inspiration from its humble beginnings for an event that’s truly one-of-a-kind.
Celebrating its 20th year, The Great Wheelbarrow Race pushed off from Mareeba – 65km west of Cairns on May 12 with teams competing to be the first to get their barrow over the line 140km down the track in Chillagoe – a historical mining town with a population of 250.
The quirky race pays homage to miners of the late 18th century who’d walk the region’s unforgiving terrain in search of work, pushing wooden wheelbarrows filled with their worldly possessions.
Best described as a relay race of wheelbarrows; competitors run, walk, and limp as they jump in and out of team buses, handing over the wheelbarrow baton as they go (pictured below).
When pushing their bodies to the limit, the scale of competition is a sliding one for participants with some taking the fitness challenge more seriously than others.
But there’s much more to The Great Wheelbarrow Race which has gained quite the reputation over the years, known as much for its bus shenanigans and painful blisters acquired along the way.
Race Chair and Mareeba Shire Councillor Lachlan Benstead said it’s not until that final horn sounds at the end of each leg of the race that the true spirit of the event comes to life with live music and some good ol’ team fun at the country pubs along the way.
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“On Saturday night, we’re introduced to teams in Almaden where we find out their story and how much money they raise so everyone’s aware of their journey and how much effort has gone in,” Benstead said.
“The motivation is there but the physical strength is drawn from deep, deep inside and there’s a lot of days when your brain is questioning you, it’s telling you to stop and it’s gonna throw questions at you.
“It’s a battle of the mind as well as the physical battle but it was so wonderful to see those teams that crossed the line on day three, because we’ve been on a journey with them.”
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By Sunday afternoon when the cavalcade of vehicles has departed, the townships are left with far more than just the memory of a good time.
“It might not look like a tourism driver, but in fact, it’s exactly what it is when you think Almaden Pub probably only sees four to five people at most every day,” Benstead said.
“I mean, the amount of caravans that were pulled up out in the big dirt paddock in front of the pub was incredible.”
And it turns out people are willing to travel from just about anywhere to get their dose of nostalgia.
“We had a team from St Joseph’s Nudgee College (Brisbane) come up, another one from Melbourne has come back up as well,” he said.
“One of the runners also came up from Adelaide.
“This kind of event is done nowhere else in the world.”
More than $190,000 was raised for charity during the 2023 event. For more information visit www.greatwheelbarrowrace.com