Tuesday’s lunchtime entertainment was supposed to be parachute display team the Red Devils, but after strong winds forced them to drop out, Trek Cart Racing stepped in.
“Trek Cart Racing originated as a military exercise,” says team member Paul. “It’s been practised by Scouts since the beginning; back in the day you could put all your kit on one of these and go camping for the weekend, but these days we simply use them for racing. It’s a really good twist on something traditional.”
The media team and Jam FM treated the spectators to a demonstration of the circuit. Racers had to weave around a line of cones, disassemble the cart, move the parts under a barrier, then reassemble them, go around another group of cones, then disassemble and reassemble the cart again! The fastest team was the winner, and time penalties could be added for knocking over cones or engaging in foul play. Jam FM won easily, while Media entertained everyone with a spectacular face plant!
Then the main games began. First up was Wonder Fest, who easily beat Quest Fest in just two minutes. The next race was between Wild West Fest and Folk Fest, with the former just beating the latter by a few seconds. Then, Carnival Fest bested Circus Fest; but due to Circus’ quick time, they faced off again in the semi-final, where Carnival won again with a record time of 1 minute 47 seconds.
The teams had some respite as Program and Medical faced off in the staff race. However, despite most of the audience assuming Medical would be faster, they suffered a crushing defeat. Program then gunned for victory in the staff final but was beaten by Jam FM – even after they incurred a 10 second penalty for stealing the other team’s part!
After Wonder beat Wild West in the second semi-final, it was time for the grand finale between them and Carnival. Despite a valiant attempt from Wonder, Carnival easily beat them with a mighty finishing time of 2 minutes 12 seconds.
It might have been a last-minute replacement, but Trek Cart Racing went down a storm with campers. “It’s great! All the teams are doing really well,” says Rory from 126th Lanarkshire Scouts, Circus Fest.
“We think it’s very good. It’s a good event to laugh at as well,” says Oliver from Lincoln Explorers, Wonder Fest.
The event may even have inspired some to take up a brand new sport. “I think we’re going to try it now,” says Max from 1st Bolton Scouts. “It was a lot of fun, very competitive.”
Who knew that watching people build a cart could be so exciting?!
All of our lunchtime entertainment is being livestreamed on Facebook Live. Check out todays Trek Cart Challenge on our Facebook Page