Start your… lawn mowers? Shaunavon Boomtown Days celebrations features second annual lawn mower races
It was race day in Shaunavon, but it wasn't exactly your typical car or horse race.
People from around the southwest region of Saskatchewan are gathering in Shaunavon to participate in Boomtown Days, which is a weekend of fun and activities including a rodeo and — among other things — lawn mower races.
It's the second year the lawn mower races have been hosted according to Riley Kornfield, one of the races organizers and participants.
"We wanted to bring something else to Boomtown Days to try to attract people to come to Shaunavon," Kornfield told CBC Radio's Saskatchewan Weekend.
"We tossed around a few different ideas and at the end of the day we all really enjoyed the lawn mower race idea and went from there."
Kornfield said last year there 17 lawn mowers entered in the race last year.
They're not your typical lawn mowers though.
Watch: Riders test out the new race track
"Some people spend lots and lots of hours on their lawn mower. You can do a quick weekend project or you can spend months on them," Kornfield said. "My approach last year was kind of the quick and maybe not the best lawn mower out there."
He said this year he took a different route and built a competitive lawn mower. Last year, the top speed was 41 kilometres per hour; this year Kornfield expected to see something just a little bit faster than that.
That's because organizers constructed a new track, specifically for the lawn mower races according to Kornfield, who said the machines can top out at speeds of up to 70 kilometres per hour.
The race isn't a free for all either.
Kornfield said racers were required to wear goggles, helmets, and proper clothing. The lawn mowers also need to have some kind of auto-shut off switch that activates when riders fall off their machines.
Part of what floored Kornfield about last year's race was the spectator turnout. The organizers were expecting 200 or 300 people to turn up — they saw nearly 1,000 people turn up to watch the races.
To cap things off, the race is a fundraising event to help fund various projects around town and all those extra spectators helped in his efforts to give back to his community, according to Kornfield.
In this weekend's race, Kornfield 'mow'-tered to third place behind winner Jeff Ellis and runner-up Chris Grant, both from Calgary.
