On October 4, 33 teams showed what it takes to pull a Boeing 737-700 over 12 feet in two separate events: fastest pull (lowest time), and combined weight (lowest weight of the pullers).
As varied as the teams’ backgrounds were (Sheriff’s office, gym besties, costuming or social clubs, office colleagues, etc.), they all pulled towards one common goal: raise funds for Special Olympics New Jersey (SONJ). At SONJ, health, wellness, athlete leadership and Unified program initiatives are completely free of charge to thousands of athletes across the state.
Over $125,000 were raised, with these teams and individuals being the top three respectively:
Top teams
PMAC ATA – $10,518
Team Mandelbaum – $8,402
D4ID/Monmouth Marlins – $6,913
Top individuals
Joseph Collins – $6,700
Jo Edwards – $3,975
Michael Madonna – $3,247
Participants and spectators alike enjoyed the Airport Family Day next door, with tours of aircraft and emergency vehicles, interactive vendor displays, music, games, and giveaways. And let’s not forget the free food, which may have helped in energizing some teams in the fastest pull category, but hampered them for the lowest combined weight ranking. Some tough decisions had certainly to be made.
Fastest pull
Bergen County Sheriffs Office PBA 134 (7.16s)
A.D.T.C and Star Wars Costuming Clubs of NJ (tied at 7.41s each)
Lowest combined weight
A.D.T.C. (1089lbs, 5 pullers)
Shari’s Team (FedEx) (1180lbs, 5 pullers)
Bulldogs (1228lbs, 5 pullers)
An event of this magnitude would not be possible to run without dedicated volunteers and sponsors. Our sincere appreciation goes to:
Our Host Sponsors
The Port Authority of NY/NJ and Newark Liberty International Airport
Our Presenting Sponsor
United Airlines
Our Flight Deck Sponsors
Hackensack Meridian Health Network
FedEx
OTG EWR
Our Runway Sponsor
LANXESS Corporation
And last, but not least, our enthusiastic and untiring members of the Law Enforcement Torch Run.