The trial of strength and endurance resulted from a bet made on Anzac Day 1935, between Beechworth's local garage proprietor Tom Parkinson and the licensee of the Post Office Hotel, Tony Evans. The bet, for twenty pounds, was that Parkinson would not be able to push Evans from the Beechworth Post Office to the Chalet at Mt. Buffalo in a wheelbarrow, given the time-limit of eight days. Although by all accounts the wager had originated in the local pub over a couple of beers, Tom Parkinson and Tony Evans took their bet very seriously.
