The bet led to an 80km wheelbarrow marathon that lifted Australia’s spirits

TAKE two men, a wheelbarrow and an 80 kilometre-long mountain road blasted by rain and snow - and that equals one insane wager.

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SO have you ever heard the one about the publican, the garage owner and the wheelbarrow?

I won’t give away the punchline, but a bizarre wager between the two men led to a “barrowthon” that captured post-Great depression Australia’s imagination and inspired a modern-day charity event in north-eastern Victoria.

Back in 1935, Beechworth publican Tony Evans complained to the owner of the local servo, Tom Parkinson, that the road to the Mount Buffalo Chalet, about 80km away, was poor.

“That’s nonsense, Mr Parkinson said. “I can wheel you there in a barrow.”

Mr Evans, also known as Sid, wagered 20 pounds that Mr Parkinson couldn’t do it.

It was a bet that electrified the little gold town near Wangaratta and captured the imagination of a nation that was recovering from the Depression but hearing the drums of war from Europe.

Reporters flew in from Sydney and Melbourne to cover the event.

Radio men broadcast the news around the world.

Children in the area were given school holidays just to watch the spectacle, which started at the Beechworth post office on June 15, 1935.

Twenty-four rules were set before a justice of the peace earlier in the month.

Mr Evans was allowed a rubber air cushion, an umbrella, an overcoat, normal clothes and nothing else for the trip, and he was to remain in the barrow for 10 minutes after each stop, and five for the final climb up Mount Buffalo.

He had to keep his feet clear of the wheel and the road at all times.

No time off was allowed for snow.

Mr Parkinson was allowed a standard wheelbarrow with a rubber wheel, and was barred from dragging behind the barrow and letting it coast down the steep Buckland Gap, a one-in-six grade.

He was not allowed to wheel the barrow nearer than one metre from the edge of the cliff-lined Mount Buffalo road.

Mr Parkinson had eight days exactly to complete the barrowthon.

Both men trained for the event: Parkinson by wheeling the local 101kg jail warden Claude French around town at night, and Evans (a mere 88kg) by reclining for hours at a time in the barrow in a field.

This was no walk in the park.

The trip from Beechworth to Porepunkah in the Ovens valley, the effective start of the climb to the Mount Buffalo Chalet, is difficult enough.

Sure, Beechworth is at 560 metres above sea level and Porepunkah is at 280 metres, but it’s a big ask to cart an 88kg man in a wheelbarrow for almost 52km with many uphill and downhill stretches.

But, as they say, that last step is a lulu. From Porepunkah, it’s about 28km to the chalet with an effective climb of 1080 metres.

Crowds appeared all along the route to cheer the two men on.

Mr Evans should have just given Mr Parkinson the 20 pounds.

He reached the chalet at 12w.25pm on Sunday, June 24, 43 minutes before the eight-day deadline passed.

The Sun reported that Mr Parkinson completed the barrowthon with 56 total hours on the road, and 33 hours of total wheeling time and 23 hours of rest stops, which numbered 688 in all.

More than half the travelling time and two-thirds of the rest stops were taken between Porepunkah and the chalet.

The men endured rain and even snow for most of the journey – the sort of weather only a Victorian winter can deliver.

The men completed the journey on a Sunday in their Sunday best, Mr Parkinson in a stiff collar and tie and ambling behind a snow plough.

Mr Parkinson slipped on the last leg, throwing Mr Evans onto a frozen creek.

Brilliant sunshine greeted the men on that last leg, but snow began falling again minutes after they arrived.

Mr Evans cut a ceremonial ribbon as Mr Parkinson carried him to their goal in front of a rapturous crowd of about 1500 people from both Victoria and NSW who had decorated the chalet and the road with banners welcoming the pair.

“Skiers formed a guard of honour with their stocks as the barrow came up to the chalet,” Sun reporter Colin Bednall wrote.

“Waiting at the ribbon … were the barrowmen’s families, but they were lost in the crowd that surged forward.”

The men were presented with blue ribbons, one inscribed “Parkie, the Pride of Beechworth” and the other “Tony, Still Smiling”.

“You will quite understand that when I say I am pleased to be here, I am telling no lies,” Mr

Mr Parkinson told those gathered, praising Mr Evans’ sportsmanship as he spoke.

“Some people have called me a fool for undertaking this marathon. When I tell you that this barrow has brought the greatest crowds and publicity to Beechworth and Myrtleford that the towns have ever known, I hope you will agree with me for saying I am glad I have been a fool.”

Mr Evans told the crowd only that he’d never been so glad to part with 20 pounds.

The exploits of Parkinson and Evans were remembered in the 80th anniversary in 2015 when local Guy Wilkinson revived the barrowthon.

In its first incarnation, in October 2015, 100 people in 13 teams competed in the challenge over 88km from Beechworth to Mount Buffalo, swapping in sessions as barrow-pusher and barrow passenger along the way and raising $17,000.

Last month, the second modern barrowthon comprised 240 people in 24 teams and raised $55,000 to assist the family of a little boy with a rare genetic disease.

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