MALE COMPETITOR IN TOODYAY WHEELBARROW RACE
1981 - 1984A small coloured photo of top half of a young man, wearing a white singlet, and reclining in a grey metal wheelbarrow. Legs of 2 men in trousers behind him, left man holding a camera. Feet in joggers in top of photo.
Probably the Wowser James wheelbarrow race.
In 1935, Toodyay blacksmith Ernest Wesley 'Wowser' James rose to the challenge that he couldn't push local barber Frank Costello in a wheelbarrow around an unsealed 6.4km course. The course started and ended at the Victoria Hotel in Stirling Terrace, Toodyay. The contest drew in other competitors. The craze took off and was a feature event at the Toodyay Agricultural Show later that year.
In the early 1980s teams of three raced around a shorter (4.4km) route to raise funds for local organisations and the events proved popular with locals.
Details
Details
Toodyay Herald, September 2017, p.15, article titled ‘"Wowser’ wins the day" by Ieva Tomsons about the origin of the Toodyay wheelbarrow race and later competitions in the early 1980s.
