Gentlemen, Start the Carts : Cub Scouts’ Object in Fullerton Races Is Fun--and Winning’s Just a Bonus

With silent determination, 10-year-old Tim Tzeng of La Habra Heights gripped his Cub Scout pack’s pushcart and waited at the drag race starting line.

Ready, set, go! Tim pushed frantically, parents cheered and a Cub leader waited with a stopwatch.

Seconds later, the time was posted, and Pack 882 went on to other events not knowing whether it had been fast enough to earn a shot at the 3-foot trophy.

“It’s exciting to be here while everything is going on and everyone is watching us,” Tim said. “It’s like being in the major leagues.”

For Tim and about 400 other local Cubs, the fifth annual Cub Scout Pack Pushcart Derby in Fullerton on Saturday was about building and racing the best boy-powered crates made of two-by-fours, lawn mower wheels and ropes for steering.

“The pushcart derby emphasizes doing your best, helping other people and obeying the law of the pack,” said Kirby Kammer, awards chairman from Pack 1218 in Fullerton, which hosted the event. “That is what Cub Scouting is all about.”

But it’s competition without undue pressure, parents said.

“Sometimes parents can get too competitive and lose perspective,” said Keith Miyamoto, a 40-year-old pediatrician from Whittier who videotaped his son Kyle of Pack 883. “But at this event, parents don’t get mad at how the kids do. My expectation is that he gives 100%, so he can be proud of himself.”

The event was dreamed up by David and Sabrina Hall of Fullerton as a gift to the Cub Scouts in Orange County.

Local businesses contribute material, time and money to the event, organizers said. Entrants also pay registration fees, and the money is used to help pay Scouting fees for boys whose families cannot afford it.

The closing event was the Final Eliminator, a single-elimination drag race for the 16 Cub Scout packs that had qualified.

This year, Pack 1223 of Fullerton took home the trophy.

“I just feel joyful,” said pack member David Murphy, 10.

For Tim Tzeng and his fellow pack members who didn’t make it past the semifinals, the loss was not so bad.

“If you win, you win. If you lose, you lose. It doesn’t really matter,” he said.

“It’s just that you get out there.”