Nineties favourites East 17 brought the curtain down on the first Scottish Coal Carrying Championships in five years.
The trio took to the stage in the car park at Kelty Community Centre where they belted out their best-known chart hits.
The band topped off a fantastic day, which saw around 5,000 people take to the streets to watch the bizarre, but gruelling, event.
And they even joked to the amazed crowd that they’d consider taking part next year.
East 17 play Kelty Community Centre. Woo! pic.twitter.com/FpracaFM6o
— Claire Warrender (@C_CWarrender) August 28, 2021
They’d better start training soon, however, as the event sees men carry a 50kg bag of coal over a one kilometre, uphill course.
Some people are even known to collapse along the way.
‘Hell Hill’
But there was no such concern for this year’s winner, 22-year-old Wallace Nelson.
He breezed the course in under five minutes then declared he was off to play rugby in the afternoon.
Wallace even won a second prize for his “supreme effort” on what’s known as Hell Hill – the steepest part of Kelty’s main street.
“I’m buzzing like an old fridge,” he said.
“It was really hard, ,much harder than training.
“My heart and my head were pounding. It’s some distance.”
Women carry a lighter bag of 25kg but even that requires tremendous strength.
Caroline Leck, 45, from Carnock fell to the ground after finishing ahead of the pack.
“I can’t believe I did it,” she said.
“The bag was slipping down my back but I just kept going slow and steady and I did it!”
Spider-Man and Scooby Doo
The Scottish Coal Championship is one of only two coal races in the world.
And it involves the whole family, with children taking part with smaller bags.
There’s also a mascots’ race, which this year saw Fife Flyers mascot Geordie Munro beat off stiff competition from the likes of Spider-Man, Buzz Lightyear and Scooby Doo.
And there was even a former Prime Minister on hand as Gordon Brown took to the main stage to congratulate the winners on their “strength and endurance”.
“It’s great to see so many people out,” he said.
“It’s probably a release from all the tensions of the last year.”
Singers, dancers, jugglers and a pipe band added to the party atmosphere, before the community centre concert at tea-time.
Organiser Michael Boyle said it had been a marvellous event.
“It’s been amazing and Wallace in particular absolutely pummelled the race.”
