COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A new tradition in Cookeville is perfect for those who love fast rides and don't mind possibly getting covered head to toe in mud. The best part? It's all for a very good cause.
"Howdy! Doin alright?" Larry Mahan shouted as another truck pulled up to his Mahan Farms in Cookeville.
Saturday was another race day for Larry. This one brought out a whole lot of people.
"Oh yeah, I know a bunch of people," Larry said, looking out over the line of cars. "Yeah, I've been around this town just about my whole life, so I know everybody."
So, what was being raced?
One-by-one ride-on toy cars including Power Wheels went flying down a 169-foot hill.
"This is the Downhill Power Wheels Derby/Mud Bog!" Larry said. "[The vehicles] are stripped into neutral."
"The friend zone is where your friends push you," Larry said about a grassy area just before the hill drops. "That's the motor behind your Power Wheels."
The first thing for racers was to pick a vehicle from the many gathered at the farm.
"The pink ones go fast," one woman told me.
"How do you figure?"
"Cause they got better wheels," she explained. "The girls didn't wear out their Power Wheels like the boys do."
Hm. An interesting strategy.
Smart.
"Pick a pink one," she nodded.
However, for two-time women's division champion Tamara Young, the key is bringing your vehicle.
"This is QB. Queen Bee!" Tamara said. "Everybody's wanting to beat me or push me down. There's no way they're gonna win!"
Tamara went flying down the hill on Queen Bee, the vehicle toppling her into the mud at the end of her run.
"How are you doing?" I asked her.
"I can't see anything! I got mud in my eyes, but I'm great!" Tamara laughed, covered in mud.
It was another first place time for Tamara.
Now, it's true, crashing in the mud is an occupational hazard. That wasn't stopping first time racer, 12-year-old Tanner Osby.
"They said it'd be cool if I did it, and I thought, 'hey, why not?'" Tanner said, perched in his chosen vehicle.
His vehicle launched down the hill, well, kind of. The vehicle wasn't running very fast. There was a lesson in this bumpy first go-round. You get up and go again.
Tanner took another try with a different vehicle. This time he sailed down the hill.
"What'd you get?" I asked him as he walked up.
"First place!" he said showing his kids division trophy.
"Look at that!"
From doing this event, Larry learned something pretty great too, something about this community.
"I had a cousin who passed away of cancer," he said. "He got it when he was younger and ended up beating it. Then when he was 17, it came back and ended up taking his life."
Larry's events are now to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital which treats childhood cancer. Since the start of these events in 2019, Larry gathered sponsorships and donations and raised more than $100,000.
When Larry called on this community, they showed up, and they weren't scared of a little mud.
"Ain't no way I could do it myself," Larry said about the money raised. "St. Jude is the best charity that's out there. Let's let them continue to make money, so they can continue to save lives."
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
Happy Birthday to the YMCA of Middle TN. They just celebrated their 150th anniversary! A lot has changed with the Y over the years. I have personally seen some of that firsthand when I was a long-time board member at the Northwest Family Y and part of their Black Achievers Program. Forrest Sanders has a look back.
- Lelan Statom
