Donald Trump, Elon Musk, the Pope, a Chinese dragon and Oasis make Kington’s 49th wheelbarrow race a success
Donald Trump, Elon Musk, the Pope, a colourful caterpillar, a Chinese dragon, Oasis, cowboys and Romans made Kington’s 49th wheelbarrow race a fantastic sight.
The 26 entrants delighted a bumper crowd which stretched down High Street on Saturday (June 14).
Competitors raced, only stopping for a half-pint at The Royal Oak, The Swan Hotel, The Royal Oak, Gladestry (situated by the Lamb), Open Arms Kington at the Oxford, Kington Golf Club (situated by Gravel Hill), Ye Olde Tavern Kington, Kington Town Football Club (situated by Kington Court), The Queens Head, The Wine Vaults and The Burton Hotel & Cloud 9.
Local celebrity John Hussey was back by popular demand on the microphone, providing his inimitable commentary.
The racers included first-timers, veterans, some who had already completed the Offa’s Dyke 15 earlier in the day, Kington Building Supplies employees celebrating the 45th anniversary of the business, Kington postmaster Tim Allen and his friend Roy Morgan, who paid tribute to the landlady of the town’s Ye Olde Tavern, Maureen Titterington, after it was recently named Camra’s Herefordshire pub of the year.
Members of Oliver Clark’s stag party from Bath were at Symonds Yat when they heard about the wheelbarrow race and made it to Kington mid-afternoon. Then they needed to find a couple of wheelbarrows and fortunately JP Turner’s opened up especially for them and saved their race!
Oliver’s wedding takes place in Bath on August 22 and the boys enjoyed an unusual and fun stag do.
Bride and groom Sarah and Crew Carter who were celebrating their wedding at the Burton Hotel, the last drink stop of the race, even joined in the fun and posed in a wheelbarrow.
The fastest men were Fred Oliver and Ollie Hughes and they took the Allan Wood Challenge Cup. In joint second place were Ed Jones and Marcus Morgan and Bruce and Kish.
The fastest women were Emma Broad and Millie Mills, Maddie Buchanan and Emma Carson were in second place and Indeg Diskin and Tess Dow were third.
The men’s fancy dress competition was won by Trump and Musk AKA Martin Bullock and David Lewis, with Pope Leo made up of Kieran Morgan and Harry Hughes in second place and The Whitehouse Wonders – Richard Bullock and Dean Wright - in third place.
The women’s fancy dress was won by Get Buzzed made up of Indeg Diskin and Tess Dow who both work at Clyro, with Oasis in second place – Ruby Morgan and Eamon Chicker, who are going to see the band in Wembley in August.
The mixed team fancy dress winners were Dragon Our Feet in first place, Bill and Ben’s Café in second place made up of Geoff Cooper, David James and Molly James and Captain Jack Barrow and the Fish People in third place.
The Hedley Simcock Cup winners for best overall entertainment were the Very Thirsty Caterpillar made up of Bex Allen, Dan Usher, Alex Church, Chris Locke, Andie Goodman, Dan Habbershaw, Eckard Arbie and Claudia Talbot.
A lap of honour was held before the start of the race in memory of Guy Maynard, who was Kington Festival’s treasurer for over 10 years. His last wish was for his daughter Denise, his grandchildren Polly and Sam and his favourite nurse from St Michael’s Hospice Natasha Thomas, to do a lap of honour on mobility scooters just before the Wheelbarrow Race.
The judges were Samantha Boden, Shelley Reice and Paula Village, who all work at Lynhales Hall Nursing Home, an event sponsor and Kington firefighters held a blanket collection.
Kington Festival chai Emma Hancocks said: “Thank you to everyone who attended and took part in the Wheelbarrow Race.
“Yet again, we were blown away by the number of entrants. It was so lovely to see so many people lining the streets and having a good time.
“We as a committee were extremely happy with the evening and we would like to thank everyone for their help and support.”
