25 August 2006 Lincoln bed-pushers still in the headlines

They definitely take the prize for Lincoln's most enduring student stunt ever, the famous bed-pushing team from the 1959 Bachelor of Agricultural Science intake. They grabbed the headlines 45 years ago and they were front page news again in May this year with a re-run of their stunt.

Back in 1961 the BAgrSc class members pushed a standard hospital bed on casters around Christchurch's Hagley Park for three days non-stop, clocking up a distance of over 300 miles.

It was done to break a bed-pushing record set by some Massey students and the Lincoln students ultimately claimed that their effort set an Australasian record for the "sport"!

There were 10 bed-pushers in the team back then and nine of them came together again at an alumni reunion in Taupo in May this year. Three even came over from Australia for the get-together.

It's not the first time the bed-pushers have assembled for a reunion. They did so on the 30th and 40th anniversaries of their stunt.

Of course they had to see if they still had what it takes in the bed-pushing stakes so with the help of a locally acquired bed the team gathered round and gave it a gentle heave-ho over a seriously shortened course, age now starting to outstrip any new record setting ambitions. Short course or not, their effort made the front page of the Taupo Times. Well done lads!

The intrepid nine who gathered at the Wairakei Resort, Taupo, for the reunion were: Peter Newman, Bob Diprose, John Labes, Allan Frazer, Peter Nuthall, Don Manson, Brian Milne, Joe Davis and Mick Calder.