Mon. Mar 29th 2010
Newry, Maine (March 27, 2010) – The Auburn Fire Department edged out 18 other teams from around New England to take first place in the 20th Annual Firefighter’s Race at Sunday River today. Meanwhile, proceeds from this afternoon’s race, as well as the 20th Annual Eat the Heat Chili Cook Off and the 25th Annual Ski-A-Thon, helped raise more than $300,000 for Maine Handicapped Skiing (MHS) – the third largest amount ever raised during this annual weekend for the nonprofit organization.
Auburn’s winning time was 27.85 seconds. The margin of victory over second place finishers from the Jay Fire Department was only .29 seconds and the margin between the second and third place team from Bethel was at .13 seconds. Skiing for Auburn was former Jay Fire Captain Dan Masselli.
Fire department from around New England included: 1) *Auburn, Maine 2) Jay, Maine 3) Bethel, Maine 4) Lewiston, Maine 5) Hopkinton, Mass. 6) Gorham, Maine 7) *Falmouth, Maine 8) Rumford, Maine 9) *Wolfeboro N.H. 10) Poland, Maine 11) Newry, Maine 12) Denmark, Maine 13) Farmington, Conn. 14) Cumberland, Maine. (*Departments with two teams)
Firefighters in full gear raced down a giant slalom course on the Tempest trail toting 50 feet of fire hose. Teams were composed of skiers, snowboarders and snowbladers.
A full list of team names and race times can be found at: http://www.live-timing.com/races.php (Race name: Firefighters Fundraising Race)
At the bottom of the giant slalom race course just outside the White Cap Base Lodge was the Eat the Heat Chili Cook Off. Ten slow-cooking teams from Sunday River and the surrounding area offered up their best batches of chili to the hungry crowd and panel of celebrity judges.
Judge’s scores combined to award first place to Shipyard Brew Haus from Newry, Maine. The runner’s up award in the annual chili contest went to The Bethel Brew Pub from Bethel, Maine with Cho Sun, also from Bethel, finishing third. People’s Choice award went to the Sudbury Inn of Bethel.
For more information on Sunday River’s Fire Fighter’s Race or Eat the Heat Chili Cook Off, visit www.sundayriver.com. For more information on Maine Handicapped Skiing’s Ski-A-Thon, visit www.skimhs.org.
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