The Water Closet Blues Band's 1:24.7 Outhouse Race Legend

Every Fourth of July since the 1970s, Bristol, Vermont has raced outhouses down West Street: one rider, a pushing crew, and roughly 500 feet between the church crosswalk and glory. On July 4, 1981, the Water Closet Blues Band, defending their 1980 title, pushed their privy across the line in a record-breaking 1 minute 24.7 seconds, a run still talked about four decades later. The race runs to this day, and the Blues Band's time remains the stuff of local legend, preserved in New England folklore right alongside the ghost stories.