19th annual races held Saturday
TRENARY -- It only happens once a year in the U.P., and thousands flock to the town of Trenary to see the action go down. The 19th Annual Outhouse Classic was held Saturday afternoon.
Several compete, but there's only one winning outhouse in each division.
It took three days of methodical construction and almost two months 'training' to pull it off, but Saturday, first-time racer Matt Zika met his goal of taking home gold.
"I just wanted to get to the finish, that's all I was thinking about," said Zika. "Just running straight down the track, fortunately, the sled went straight, it worked out well."
He says he owes his victory to P90X conditioning and careful designing. His wheels? An outhouse on skis, just one of 20 competing Saturday.
The goal for these racers is really quite simple: race the makeshift outhouses down a snow-packed track, which is about the length of a football field.
It's a sight that boosts the small town of Trenary from just 400 people to 4,000. Residents say it's great for business and it's good for some laughs too.
"People dress up for it...look around. There's people dressed in funny hats and costumes," said event treasurer Dianne Peterson. "There's so many ideas, from year to year everything's different."
It's quite the party, but don't let that fool you. There is money on the line.
"It can be competitive, sometimes just a matter of seconds divide the categories," Peterson said.
Clocking in at just 25 seconds, the National Weather Service outhouse team pocketed $75 and bragging rights for the next year.
Organizers say 2013 will be the 20th anniversary of the Trenary Outhouse Classics, and they're hoping it's bigger than ever.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forWLUC