Apple Bin Races Are Serious Business – Brian’s Blog

When I signed up to be the Newstalk KIT representative in last Saturday's apple bin races at the Naches Sportsman's Days, I had no idea that the competitors would treat it like something out of the movie "The Fast and the Furious."I love the community celebrations that occur throughout the year in the Yakima Valley. On saturday, I got to take part in the Naches Sportsman's Days apple bin races. I had visions of sitting in an old wooden apple bin on casters being slowly pushed down the street in downtown Naches.

Boy was I wrong.

The apple bins were all equipped with bicycle wheels and handle bars for steering, and rolled really well. They also had a steel bar for the pushers to get a hold of. The race was a "drag race" of about one block, starting from a dead start and sprinting through the finish line.

I had lined up my crew of "pushers" from our local full contact women's roller derby team, the Wine Country Crushers. These ladies are some really tough athletes, and a really colorful bunch as well, so I thought that would be fun and good exposure for them.

I was going up against my friend and co-worker, Michele Mathews from 92.9 the Bull. She had recruited three soldiers from the Yakima Training Center as her pushers. These guys were all in their mid 20s and looked like marathon runners. Then there's the fact that while even though I've lost 105 pounds, I'm still a bit on the heavy side while Michele weighs about three pounds, and that's mostly blonde hair.

My crew did their best, but we were out sprinted by the Army team. Twice

We would have won if the Crushers could have hip checked the soldiers.

Wait until next year.

Get more on the Wine Country Crushers here.