CHICAGO, September 23, 2013 - O'Hare International Airport was the site of a larger-than-life tug-of-war challenge on Saturday, September 21, as 20-person teams comprised of law enforcement and safety personnel, as well as the general public, faced off with a 90-ton UPS Airbus A300 aircraft.
The fifth annual Law Enforcement Torch Run Plane Pull event raised over $120,000 for Special Olympics Illinois.
An all-time high of 68 teams registered for the competition at O'Hare. Teams of men and women were divided into two divisions - the Open Division and Public Safety Division. Each team attempted to pull the plane a distance of 12 feet, and the top finisher from each division faced off for one final pull to determine the Grand Champion team.
The winner in the Public Safety category was the Chicago Police Department. The winner in the Open Division was the Maine South High School Football Team. The Chicago Police Department team also earned the title of Grand Champion in the final pull competition with a time of 9.81 seconds.
"On behalf of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago Department of Aviation, I want to thank UPS, and the Law Enforcement Torch Run committee and Special Olympics Illinois for holding this spectacular event at O'Hare International Airport for the fifth consecutive year," said Commissioner Rosemarie S. Andolino. "We are proud to continue to support Special Olympics Illinois."
Special Olympics Illinois is a not-for-profit organization offering year-round training and competition for nearly 21,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities and more than 6,000 Young Athletes ages 2-7 with and without intellectual disabilities. For more information, please visit www.soill.org.
