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.