THUNDER BAY – Fourth year outdoor recreation program student Ethan Albrecht thought he knew what to expect when he and his classmates arrived at the Lakehead University Agora circle on Thursday morning.
Standing in front of him was a 30,000-pound school bus that he and his team would be pulling.
However, he thought it was going to be more of a tug-of-war.
“I didn’t know we’d be running . . . I’m exhausted,” Albrecht said as he was trying to catch his breath.
“I didn’t think we’d be moving that quickly but it was a lot of fun. It was great to bond with people that you might not get to hang out with all that much and it was a really good experience.”
Third year forestry student Marcus Wall was also surprised with just how much of a workout that he got.
“If I had known that, I would have warmed up a bit more,” Wall said. “I think we did the run in under 35 seconds though so our team is really happy about that.”
This marked the 42nd edition of the bus pull, which is put on by the Engineering Student Society.
“I think some people might think that it’s maybe going to be a bit harder to pull a bus, just because it’s so big,” said Allison Farrish, who helped to organize this year’s bus pull.
“When you have the whole team working together and everything gets rolling, then it’s not too bad. Plus, you get a little workout out of it, which is always good.”
The funds raised from Thursday’s bus pull are being donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters.
“I love events like this,” Wall said. “It’s always good to support the community and especially when you can raise money for a good cause like this and have some fun with your friends.”